Boost for Green Protectionism France and Germany have agreed to tie the COVID economic recovery funding to an expedited adoption of Green Deal measures that may or may not help the Bloc’s near-term growth. In addition to stepped up environmental protection, the plan calls for reshoring and boosting Europe’s “sovereignty” over “critical” supplies. The plan would impose border measures against products from other countries deemed unworthy while boosting state aid for coveted industries. Partially driving the shift is the defection of French members of Parliament from President Emmanuel Macron’s party to a new group advocating social and environmental justice. However, it is unclear that nationalizati...
What You Need to Know Today: President Trump claimed the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was over, as both sides accused one another of violating the terms of the agreement. Commercial vessels are increasingly steering clear of the Strait of Hormuz as security risks escalate following Iran...
Key Takeaways: The CME Group is launching new 90 percent Lean Beef and 50 percent Lean Beef futures and options contracts in July. There are five key factors that must be present in physical markets and futures contract specifications for futures contracts to become successful. The two l...
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.