Since the early 2000s, there has been plenty of discussion about whether monetary policy is too loose or too tight given the underlying economic conditions. It continues through today as the Fed tightened monetary policy to reign in inflation after the massive amounts of fiscal policy stimulus that came as a part of COVID recovery. From Q2 2022 to Q3 2023, interest rates increased by a total of 525 basis points, but inflation has remained “sticky” into 2024. That brings up another perhaps more pertinent topic of discussion: “loose” fiscal policy, i.e. large deficits. At the end of 2023, the current federal deficit was 6.3 percent of GDP, down from the COVID peak of 14.7 percent, but still the highest since the Great...
What You Need to Know Today: There has already been a strong run of flash soybean sales announcements in recent weeks, but more than 1.4 MMT reported this morning is an exceptionally large single-day total with major implications for the market. If the sales to China and unknown destinations w...
On Friday, at 6:57 AM, President Donald Trump announced, via a social media post, a 90-day window during which up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef could be imported outside of tariff-rate quotas—a move aimed at bringing down costs for American consumers. This is the secon...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.