World Perspectives

The Economics of Flu

Inclusive Costs (NBER Working Paper No. 22137; March 2016): This study included former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and found that a large pandemic imposed the same inclusive economic costs as global warming - $570 billion/year. Collective Action (NBER Working Paper No. 17195; July 2011): Influenza is predominantly spread globally via international airlines and locally via ground transportation. Reducing the costs requires rich countries to collectively focus resources immediately into the originating source of the virus. Vitamin D (NBER Working Paper No. 24340; January 2019): Influenza spreads in winter when everyone is indoors but the virus is also present in the peripheral months of September and October when sunlight remains...

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soy-oilseeds

U.S. Soybean Crush Margin Outlook

U.S. soybean processing margins have seen considerable volatility over the past month as multiple fundamental factors upended global oilseed and product prices. The most obvious influence was the recent trade war and tit-for-tat escalation in tariffs between the U.S. and, which was exacerbated...

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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.

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