Worker-Centered Trade Policy The Biden Administration’s proposed “worker-centered” trade policy (people are not just consumers, they are also workers and wage earners) is confusing enough that the National Press Club Foundation held a session today to try and help reporters understand it. The session did not help. A free trade representative tried to explain that the U.S. only has preferential access (below MFN tariffs) to 10 percent of the world’s consumers at the same time competitors (EU, Canada) have negotiated better access to at least 50 percent. However, push back from a union representative and a trade skeptic declared previous trade agreements weak on labor provisions and solely focused on corporate...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.