Public Health COVID Deaths Fall to One Per Week, Lockdown Damage Deepens Through yesterday, data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Center indicate the trailing seven-day averages in China at 4,897 new COVID-19 cases and one related death. This marks the lowest rate for new cases since the end of the third week of February and the fewest deaths over a trailing seven-day period since the second week of February. Meanwhile, Shanghai’s lockdown is set to end next week, while Beijing’s is scheduled to continue for at least the next couple of weeks. Although this approach has reduced deaths and new cases, the use of QR codes and other artificial intelligence tools to track citizens combined with the sharp fall in economic activity has...
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.