World Perspectives

Follow the Money

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attended the weekend’s G-7 summit in Hiroshima. At the meeting, he suggested the UN Security Council and the Bretton Woods global financial institutions need to be updated. He correctly noted that their design was based on the dominant countries right after World War II. Much has changed since then. Bangladesh has a population larger than Russia. China and India together will contribute over half the world’s economic growth in 2023. The G-7 was half the world’s GDP in 1980 but is just 30 percent of the total today.  Mr. Guterres was not specific about how he envisions the institutions changing, but his focus was inequality and so presumably it would involve the loss of power by G...

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Summary of Futures

Sep 25 Corn closed at $4.0925/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Sep 25 Wheat closed at $5.3825/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.27/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Aug 25 Soymeal closed at $275.8/short ton, up $0.2...

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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.

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