In a letter to the editors of the Wall Street Journal appearing in today's edition, Professor Ronald L. McKinnon of Stanford University writes about the "currency wars," in which governments can manipulate the external value of their currencies by their choices in setting domestic monetary policies. In his view, the U.S. Federal Reserve has been the "leading manipulator" of the world dollar standard by setting interest rates at such low levels that "hot money" flooded to other countries — especially emerging markets — in search of better returns. According to Professor McKinnon, this happened in late 2002 when the Fed cut the federal funds rate to just 1 percent, sending U.S. dollars off to countries such as China and Brazil. The U.S. dol...
What You Need to Know Today: Cattle futures extended their sharp selloff Friday as weakening cash cattle prices, deteriorating feedlot profitability, and reduced packer demand continued to weigh on the market. The inability of futures to sustain a rally following last week's bullish Cattle on...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
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.