One of the issues looming over the congressional schedule, budget and the presidential election is the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. These taxes are set to increase on 1 January by an average of $1,600 for 114 million middle class families, according to a Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) report released by the White House, as tax cuts -- including the expanded Child Tax Credit, the 10 percent tax bracket, marriage penalty relief and the American Opportunity Tax Credit -- will expire. CEA estimates that taxes would increase by $2,200 for a "typical middle class family of four."The report notes that President Obama and the congressional Democrats have proposed extending all the income tax cuts that benefit families with incomes less th...
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...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.