World Perspectives

A Look at Inflation and Tariffs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the CPI for July this morning. The CPI was up 0.2 percent for the month and 2.7 percent year-over-year. The rate was down from 0.3 percent in June and steady with the year-over-year of 2.7 percent at the end of June.  However, the core CPI, which the Fed monitors, rose faster at 0.3 percent in July and 3.1 percent year-over-year, the fastest annual pace in five months. Perhaps more telling, the CPI for services was up virtually across the board. Transportation services were up 0.8 percent, hospital services were up 0.5 percent, medical care services were up 0.8 percent month-over-month in July. Airline fares were up 4 percent, the largest increase in three years, and dental services were u...

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From WPI Consulting

Illuminating the value of technical research

On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.

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