World Perspectives

Flunking Economics; Nothing Burger; Insensitive Statement

Flunking Economics The critiques of President Biden’s State of the Union speech last night reflect the biases of the authors, and WPI admits its narrow focus is agricultural economics. The President once again blamed greed for part of the inflation problem in America. Corporate managers rolled their eyes as the President lauded higher wages and advised companies to fight inflation; they should “Lower your cost, not your wages.” This ignores the fact labor’s share of the economy is more than twice that of capital. For most businesses, labor is the highest single cost factor.  He once again attacked meat companies, lamenting that “you got four basic meat packing facilities. That’s it. You play with t...

Related Articles
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Big Bullish Whopper

This last trading day of the first full trading week of 2025 came in like a whimper and went out with a bang. The trading day started with a notably sub-par Export Sales report from USDA. New commitments for wheat, corn, and soybeans all hit a marketing year low for export sales last week...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds

The Historic Context for January WASDE Yield Surprises

USDA surprised the commodity markets on Friday with bullish adjustments to the U.S. corn and soybean balance sheets, particularly the unexpected reductions in yields for both commodities. The surprise created by the latest balance sheet makes it worthwhile to evaluate the USDA’s adjusted estima...

biofuel

45Z Tax Credit Preliminary Guidance Released; No GREET Model Yet

As WPI reported on 6 December, the Treasury Department had promised that the compliance regulations for the 45Z Clean Fuels Production credit would be released by the end of the Biden Administration, implying no later than 19 January, the day before President-elect Trump’s inauguration.  T...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Big Bullish Whopper

This last trading day of the first full trading week of 2025 came in like a whimper and went out with a bang. The trading day started with a notably sub-par Export Sales report from USDA. New commitments for wheat, corn, and soybeans all hit a marketing year low for export sales last week...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds

The Historic Context for January WASDE Yield Surprises

USDA surprised the commodity markets on Friday with bullish adjustments to the U.S. corn and soybean balance sheets, particularly the unexpected reductions in yields for both commodities. The surprise created by the latest balance sheet makes it worthwhile to evaluate the USDA’s adjusted estima...

biofuel

45Z Tax Credit Preliminary Guidance Released; No GREET Model Yet

As WPI reported on 6 December, the Treasury Department had promised that the compliance regulations for the 45Z Clean Fuels Production credit would be released by the end of the Biden Administration, implying no later than 19 January, the day before President-elect Trump’s inauguration.  T...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.705/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.3075/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Soybeans closed at $10.2525/bushel, up $0.2625 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Soymeal closed at $298.3/short ton, down $1 from...

Image
From WPI Consulting

Infrastructure investment due diligence

On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.

Search World Perspectives

Sign In to World Perspectives

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up