Debt Leverage Volatility Markets hate uncertainty but the upcoming hardball political play in Washington is as transparent as cellophane. Congressional Democrats are going to put $3.5 trillion worth of deficit spending and policy dreams into a legislative package that they hope to steamroll over Republicans using the budget reconciliation process. The only leverage Republicans hold to prevent such a massive change in government policy and spending is the need to legislatively raise the official sanctioned amount of debt held by taxpayers. Failing to raise the debt ceiling would place taxpayers in default and will be framed as reckless by the Democrats. Ultimately, the debt ceiling will be raised but in small increments over time so that it...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
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.