World Perspectives

Fixing the WTO; The Winner is Ag

Fixing the WTO The 13th Ministerial Conference last month in Abu Dhabi was yet another failure by the WTO. Now Singapore has proposed a retreat to discuss fundamental fixes needed to stop the long string of failures. Ultimately, the structural problems of the WTO involve one country, one vote and the necessity of consensus. Gambia with just 1.4 million people and a $2 billion economy has the same voting power as China with 1.4 billion people and $17.7 trillion in GDP. None of the other Bretton Woods institutions have this flaw. The UN is prejudiced toward the more powerful countries via the Security Council. The bias of the IMF and World Bank is toward economic size and capital contributions.  The majority involves poorer countries a...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Markets Hopeful but Guarded on China; CBOT Falls on Demand Worries

Technical selling, disappointment with the USDA’s latest policy moves, and favorable rains across the Midwest took a bearish toll on the CBOT markets Wednesday. The Federal Reserve, as expected, cut interest rates today and signaled a more dovish approach for the next several months, whic...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.2675/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.2825/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.4375/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $285.7/short ton, down...

WTO and Trump; Analytically Correct, Predictably Wrong

WTO and Trump To quote Wikipedia, James Bacchus is “an American statesman, scholar, writer, and politician". He also served as a founding member and twice chairman of the WTO’s Appellate Body. He now writes from the Libertarian Cato Institute and provocatively asks why the WTO is no...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Markets Hopeful but Guarded on China; CBOT Falls on Demand Worries

Technical selling, disappointment with the USDA’s latest policy moves, and favorable rains across the Midwest took a bearish toll on the CBOT markets Wednesday. The Federal Reserve, as expected, cut interest rates today and signaled a more dovish approach for the next several months, whic...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.2675/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.2825/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.4375/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $285.7/short ton, down...

WTO and Trump; Analytically Correct, Predictably Wrong

WTO and Trump To quote Wikipedia, James Bacchus is “an American statesman, scholar, writer, and politician". He also served as a founding member and twice chairman of the WTO’s Appellate Body. He now writes from the Libertarian Cato Institute and provocatively asks why the WTO is no...

FOB Prices and Freight Rates App (Updated 17 September)

WPI Grain Prices and Freight Rate App Note: you can also visit the app directly by clicking here. Supplemental Information The section below offers a concise view of the options available in the current version of the WPI FOB Price and Freight Rate app, along with a short “How To”...

Image
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.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up