World Perspectives

Competitiveness and Climate; U.S.-EU Meltdown; Meat Tax

Competitiveness and Climate Switzerland has dominated the Global Competitiveness Index over the past decade with Singapore and Northern European countries not far behind (see graph below). Assembled by the World Economic Forum, the index this year put the U.S. in the number one position for the first time since 2008. Some in the Trump administration may wish to take credit for this turnabout, but the outcome is because the index now incorporates a stronger dose of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, idea generation and other factors).

Separately, the International Energy Agency says that global greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2017 and are up again in the first nine months of this year. While P...

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Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.4575/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.7725/bushel, down $0.1425 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.64/bushel, down $0.0675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $312.9/short ton, down...

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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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