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Via The American Herald Tribune,

Bolivia's President Evo Morales has been highlighting his government's independence from international money lending organizations and their detrimental impact the nation, the Telesur TV reported.

"A day like today in 1944 ended Bretton Woods Economic Conference (USA), in which the IMF and WB were established," Morales tweeted.

 

"These organizations dictated the economic fate of Bolivia and the world. Today we can say that we have total independence of them."

Morales has said Bolivia's past dependence on the agencies was so great that the International Monetary Fund had an office in government headquarters and even participated in their meetings.

Bolivia is now in the process of becoming a member of the Southern Common Market, Mercosur and Morales attended the group's summit in Argentina last week.

Bolivia’s popular uprising known as the The Cochabamba Water War in 2000 against United States-based Bechtel Corporation over water privatization and the associated World Bank policies shed light on some of the debt issues facing the region.

Some of Bolivia’s largest resistance struggles in the last 60 years have targeted the economic policies carried out by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. 

Most of the protests focused on opposing privatization policies and austerity measures, including cuts to public services, privatization decrees, wage reductions, as well the weakening of labor rights. 

Since 2006, a year after Morales came to power, social spending on health, education, and poverty programs has increased by over 45 percent.

The Morales administration made enormous transformations in the Andean nation. The figures speak for themselves: the nationalization of hydrocarbons, poverty reduction from 60% to less than 40%, a decrease in the rate of illiteracy from 13% to 3%, the tripling the GDP with an average growth of 5% annually, the quadrupling of the minimum wage, the increasing of state coverage on all fronts, and the development of infrastructure in communications, transportation, energy and industry.

And above all, stability, an unusual word in the troubled political history Bolivia, of which today, with the economic slowdown experienced by many countries in the region, is a real privilege.

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Setting up a showdown not between the US and Russia as some hope, but between Washington and the EU which has emerged as the most vocal opponent of ongoing, unilateral anti-Russian escalation by the US vowing swift retaliation, moments ago the U.S. House passed bipartisan legislation codifying and imposing further sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea, and preventing the president from acting unilaterally to remove certain sanctions on Russia. Just three Republicans – Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Jimmy Duncan (Tenn.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.) – voted against the bill, which passed 419-3.

More importantly, the measure also bars U.S. companies from investing in energy projects in which Russian companies have at least a 33% stake, and may penalize European companies that colaborate with Russian companies on energy projects, the source of Europe’s recent fury.

Here are the main details of the draft legislation:

• Codifies existing US sanctions on Russia and requires Congressional review before they are lifted.
• Reduces from 30 days to 14 days the maximum allowed maturity for new debt and new extensions of credit to the state controlled financial institutions targeted under the sectoral sanctions.
• Reduces from 90 days to 60 days the maximum allowed maturity for new debt and new extensions of credit to sectoral sanctions targets in the energy sector, although this largely only brings US sanctions in line with existing EU sanctions, which already impose a 30-day maximum for most energy companies.
• Expands the existing Executive Order authorising sectoral sanctions to include additional sectors of the Russian economy: railways and metals and mining.
• Requires sanctions on any person found to have invested $10 million or more, or facilitated such an investment, in the privatisation of Russian state-owned assets if they have “actual knowledge” that the privatisation “unjustly benefits” Russian government officials or their close associates or family members.
• Authorises (but does not require) sanctions “in coordination with allies” on any person found to have knowingly made an investment of $1 million or more (or $5 million or more in any 12-month period), or knowingly provided goods or services of the same value, for construction, modernisation, or repair of Russia’s energy export pipelines.
• Orders the treasury, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of State, to prepare detailed reports within the next 180 days:
  • on Russia’s oligarchs and parastatal companies including individual oligarchs’ closeness to the Russian state, their involvement in corrupt activities and the potential impact of expanding sanctions with respect to Russian oligarchs, Russian state-owned enterprises, and Russian parastatal entities, including impacts on the entities themselves and on the economy of the Russian Federation, as well as the exposure of key US economic sectors to these entities.
  • on the impact of debt- and equity-related sanctions being extended to include sovereign debt and the full range of derivative products.

According to Goldman, the most important impact would be that the bill codifies existing sanctions. Both the Obama administration and the Trump administration have argued that this restricts the President’s ability to negotiate a settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, as lifting codified sanctions has proven very difficult in the past.  The bill also asks the treasury to prepare a report in the next six months on the potential impact of expanding debt-related sanctions to include sovereign debt, as well as the potential impact of expanding sanctions to some oligarchs found to be close to the state and parastatal companies. This could be interpreted to suggest that sovereign debt will be added to the sanctions framework once the report has been prepared.

The potentially most controversial and impactful part of the sanctions bill concerns the potential inclusion of Russia’s gas and gas pipeline sector. However, at this stage the text only provides for sanctions imposed in consultation with US allies. As we have described in recent days, there is no appetite across most of Europe to contemplate such an extension.

But more than anything, however, Tuesday’s vote amounted to a rebuke of President Trump, whose administration had pushed to water down the bill’s provisions giving Congress the power to veto the lifting of sanctions.

“This strong oversight is necessary. It is appropriate. After all, it is Congress that the Constitution empowers to regulate commerce with foreign nations,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said, quoted by The Hill.

Ironically, with The House scheduled to depart Washington for the August recess at the end of this week, the latest anti-Russia sanctions package will likely be its biggest legislative accomplishment to date. The GOP-controlled Congress has not been able to send bills fulfilling any of Trump’s campaign pledges, such as repealing the healthcare law and reforming the tax code to Trump’s desk thus far. However, when it comes to Russia, the laughing stock that is a Republican-controlled Congress has always managed “to come out on top.”  As such, its biggest victory heading into the summer recess is the measure constraining the president amid investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to sway the 2016 election.

Making matters even more complicated for the Trump administration, which urged lawmakers to ensure the president have flexibility to adjust sanctions policy, the House passed the bill with a veto-proof majority meaning Trump has no choice but to accept it.

In recent days, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders offered mixed messages in recent days.  On Sunday, Sanders told ABC’s “This Week” that the administration supports the bill. But on Monday, she told reporters on Air Force One that Trump is “going to study that legislation” before making a final decision.

In addition to binding Trump, the bill establishes new sanctions on Iran and North Korea, in addition to Russia.  White House had lobbied against the Senate-passed measure, arguing it needed flexibility to adjust economic sanctions against Moscow.

Under the House bill, existing sanctions on Russia for its aggression in Ukraine and interference in the 2016 election would be codified into law. New sanctions would go into effect against Iran for its ballistic missile development, while North Korea’s shipping industry and people who use slave labor would be targeted amid the isolated nation’s efforts to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The sanctions legislation has been stalled in the House since the Senate passed the legislation by a 98-2 vote last month. The first snag came from House lawmakers who noted that the Senate bill violated the constitutional requirement that all revenue-raising measures originate in the lower chamber.  After the Senate approved changes to address the constitutional issue, House Democrats then objected to a provision requested by GOP leaders that prevented them from forcing votes to block Trump from lifting sanctions.

 

A compromise reached over the weekend by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ensures that any House member can force a vote on a resolution of disapproval to block sanctions relief that has already passed in the Senate.

 

It also allows either the House majority or minority leaders to introduce a resolution of disapproval.

Meanwhile, the complaints emerged, and not just from Europe: oil and gas companies raised concerns about provisions limiting the extent to which American and Russian energy companies could interact. Those companies warned that provisions banning American investments supporting the maintenance or construction of Russian pipelines could inadvertently prevent U.S. development near Russian sites.

In an effort to address those concerns, the latest version of the bill clarifies that only Russian energy export pipelines can be sanctioned, something which will not help as Brussels contemplates how to retaliate. It also establishes that the ban on U.S. investments in deepwater, shale or Arctic offshore projects applies only if there are Russian entities with an ownership interest of at least 33 percent.

“In the process of making Russia pay an economic cost for their bad behavior, we must ensure we are not harming U.S. interests at home and abroad,” warned House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas). 

 

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is supportive of the sanctions package, but expressed concern that it might not have a smooth path to passage in the Senate.

 

“It seems we may be on the floor before we ironed out all our differences with the other body,” Engel said, citing the late addition of North Korea sanctions. “I hope we don’t face further delays when this bill gets back to the other house.”

And now we wait to see how Europe, which over the weekend vowed to “retaliate within days” should the legislation pass, will respond. And, of course, how long until Russia expels some 30 US diplomats now that it is abundantly clear the US won’t return the seized Russian diplomatic compounds as Putin has been demanding in recent weeks.

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Just a day after reports emerged that the FBI had seized a number of “smashed hard drives” and other computer equipment from the residence Imran Awan, the former IT aide of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, we learn that Awan has been captured at the Dulles airport while attempted to flee the country.  According to Fox News, Awan has been charged with bank fraud.

BREAKING: House staffer Imran Awan arrested at Dulles and charged with bank fraud, per @FOXNews.. Awan worked for @DWSTweets. #fox5dc

— Jim Lokay FOX5 (@LokayFOX5) July 25, 2017

BREAKING: Wasserman-Schultz IT Staffer Imran Awan Arrested at Airport While Trying To Flee The Country – @ChadPergram

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 25, 2017

For those who have managed to avoid this story, which wouldn’t be difficult given that the mainstream media has made every attempt to ignore it, the Pakistani-born brothers Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan are at the center of a criminal investigation by U.S. Capital Hill Police and the FBI.  Up until now, allegations of wrong doing have varied from simply overcharging taxpayers for congressional IT equipment to blackmailing members of Congress with secrets captured from the emails of their Democrat employers.

The Awan brothers worked for more than 30 house and senate democrats, as well as Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. The substantial scandal has raised questions about who may have been passed data which the Awans had access to, given Pakistan’s history of collaborating with a number of foreign countries who have demonstrated past willingness to influence U.S. politics.

Just yesterday we learned that FBI agents reportedly seized a number of “smashed hard drives” and other computer equipment from the Awan’s former residence in Virginia.

FBI agents seized smashed computer hard drives from the home of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s information technology (IT) administrator, according to an individual who was interviewed by Bureau investigators in the case and a high level congressional source.

 

Pakistani-born Imran Awan, long-time right-hand IT aide to the former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman, has since desperately tried to get the hard drives back, the individual told The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.

 

The congressional source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, confirmed that the FBI has joined what Politico previously described as a Capitol Police criminal probe into “serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network” by Imran and three of his relatives, who had access to the emails and files of the more than two dozen House Democrats who employed them on a part-time basis.

 

Capitol Police have also seized computer equipment tied to the Florida lawmaker.

As background, Imran was first employed in 2004 by former Democrat Rep. Robert Wexler (FL) as an “information technology director”, before he began working in Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s office in 2005.

The family was paid extremely well, with Imran Awan being paid nearly $2 million working as an IT support staffer for House Democrats since 2004. Abid Awan and his wife, Hina Alvi, were each paid more than $1 million working for House Democrats. In total, since 2003, the family has collected nearly $5 million.

The staffer’s services were so important to congressional members, that on March 22, 2016, eight democrat members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a letter, requesting that their staffers be granted access to Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI). Of those that signed the letter were representatives Jackie Speier (CA) and Andre Carson (IN), the second Muslim in Congress, both of whom employed the Awan brothers.

The brothers were also employed by members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, such as: Jackie Speier (D-CA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Joaquín Castro (D-TX), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Ted Lieu (D-CA). Lieu has since openly called for leaks by members of President Trump’s administration despite the fact that he may until recently have been under surveillance by a foreign entity.

One bombshell that has been all but ignored by the main stream media is that Imran Awan had access to Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s iPad password, meaning that the brothers also had direct access to the notorious DNC emails.

The brothers are accused of removing hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment from congressional offices, including computers and servers, while also running a procurement scheme in which they bought equipment, then overcharged the House administrative office that assigns such contractors to members.

Some congressional technology aides believe that the Awan’s are blackmailing representatives based on the contents of their emails and files, due to the fact that these representatives have displayed unwavering and intense loyalty towards the former aides.

Of course, if Republicans and/or members of the Trump administration hired foreign-born IT specialists who were suspected of committing a laundry list of federal crimes and then smashed a bunch of hard drives just before skipping town…we’re sure the media would still gloss right over it in much the same way they’re doing for the the Democrats in this instance.

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With no expectations of a rate-hike this week, and traders rapidly giving up on The Fed's dream of a steadily higher rate trajectory, a funny thing happened in the markets…

In the eyes of The Fed, their monetary policy has not been this 'tight' since October 2008.

However, in the eyes of the market, financial conditions just hit their easiest level in history (easier than the September 2005 previous record easiness level).

This is what happens when you constantly flip-flop, constantly miss forecasts, and constantly lie.

Simply put, this is the death cross of Federal Reserve Credibility.

Picking up on the dramatic divergence, Bloomberg's Cameron 'MacroMan' Crise has some advice for The Fed "Throw Us A Little Vol Here Please!"

Wednesday sees the latest installment of the Fed laying the groundwork for a shift in its balance sheet policy, probably in September. Although the Fed continues to miss its arbitrarily defined inflation target, the Bloomberg financial conditions index is now at easiest level in a decade. That era ended rather badly, and the Fed would do well to inject a little volatility into proceedings before the market does it for them.

The Fed’s halting journey toward balance sheet normalization makes Odysseus’s trip home seem like a speedy jaunt on the hyperloop in comparison. A desire to avoid shaking up the Treasury market appears to be driving this deliberate approach. An apparently heightened concern over low inflation figures has spurred the latest easing in U.S. financial conditions as the market assumes that the Fed will do much less tightening than envisaged by the dot plot. We’re now at the easiest level of financial conditions since May 2007. There is nothing wrong a priori with easy conditions and low volatility. However, the degree to which conditions have eased even as the Fed has normalized policy is unprecedented. R* says that policy rates are close to neutral. Financial markets are saying that they are very easy indeed.

 

The transmission mechanism of monetary policy is such that the Fed and other central banks have a lot more direct influence over financial markets than they do over inflation.

 

The last two economic growth cycles ended as a result of malinvestment gone awry. Overly easy policy was at least partially to blame in both instances.

 

As discussed earlier, low volatility tends to cluster and feed on itself. Barring a shock or other catalyst, it can continue for longer than is sensible.

 

The Fed has two choices: a little volatility now (via a controlled experiment to keep normalizing policy despite tepid inflation) or a lot of volatility later (when the current regime goes awry, as all economic and market cycles eventually do).

 

For the long-term health of both the economy and the market, let’s hope they eventually choose the first of these two options.

We suspect they won't.

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In potentially groundbreaking news for the blockchain community, moments ago the SEC issued a press release, referencing an investor bulletin on Initial Coin Offerings, which concluded that DAO Tokens, a Digital Asset, are securities for regulatory purposes, and cautioned that US Securities law “may” apply to offers, sales and trading of interested in virtual organization, targeting the increasingly more popular Initial Coin Offerings.

Capital raising through blockchain requires compliance with federal securities laws https://t.co/IjOxjoVdfK

— SEC Enforcement (@SEC_Enforcement) July 25, 2017

As a result of this change of treatment, those who use ICOs to sell tokens, which as a reminder have now surpassed over $1 billion in net proceeds, will have to register the tokens as securities, those participating in unregistered offerings may be liable for violations of the securities laws, and that the purpose of the registration “is to ensure that investors are sold investments that include all the proper disclosures and are subject to regulatory scrutiny for investors’ protection.”

In a press release issued on Tuesday afternoon, the SEC said it had issued an investigative report “cautioning market participants that offers and sales of digital assets by “virtual” organizations are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws.” Such offers and sales, conducted by organizations using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, have been referred to, among other things, as “Initial Coin Offerings” or “Token Sales.” In its first official regulatory intervention of ICOs, the SEC said that “whether a particular investment transaction involves the offer or sale of a security – regardless of the terminology or technology used – will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the economic realities of the transaction.”

Some more details from the report, highlights ours:

The SEC’s Report of Investigation found that tokens offered and sold by a “virtual” organization known as “The DAO” were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws. The Report confirms that issuers of distributed ledger or blockchain technology-based securities must register offers and sales of such securities unless a valid exemption applies. Those participating in unregistered offerings also may be liable for violations of the securities laws. Additionally, securities exchanges providing for trading in these securities must register unless they are exempt. The purpose of the registration provisions of the federal securities laws is to ensure that investors are sold investments that include all the proper disclosures and are subject to regulatory scrutiny for investors’ protection.

 

“The SEC is studying the effects of distributed ledger and other innovative technologies and encourages market participants to engage with us,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “We seek to foster innovative and beneficial ways to raise capital, while ensuring – first and foremost – that investors and our markets are protected.”

 

“Investors need the essential facts behind any investment opportunity so they can make fully informed decisions, and today’s Report confirms that sponsors of offerings conducted through the use of distributed ledger or blockchain technology must comply with the securities laws,” said William Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance.

 

The SEC’s Report stems from an inquiry that the agency’s Enforcement Division launched into whether The DAO and associated entities and individuals violated federal securities laws with unregistered offers and sales of DAO Tokens in exchange for “Ether,” a virtual currency. The DAO has been described as a “crowdfunding contract” but it would not have met the requirements of the Regulation Crowdfunding exemption because, among other things, it was not a broker-dealer or a funding portal registered with the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

 

“The innovative technology behind these virtual transactions does not exempt securities offerings and trading platforms from the regulatory framework designed to protect investors and the integrity of the markets,” said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. 

 

Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the Enforcement Division added, “As the evolution of technology continues to influence how businesses operate and raise capital, market participants must remain cognizant of the application of the federal securities laws.”

 

In light of the facts and circumstances, the agency has decided not to bring charges in this instance, or make findings of violations in the Report, but rather to caution the industry and market participants:  the federal securities laws apply to those who offer and sell securities in the United States, regardless whether the issuing entity is a traditional company or a decentralized autonomous organization, regardless whether those securities are purchased using U.S. dollars or virtual currencies, and regardless whether they are distributed in certificated form or through distributed ledger technology.

 

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy today issued an investor bulletin educating investors about ICOs. As discussed in the Report, virtual coins or tokens may be securities and subject to the federal securities laws. The federal securities laws provide disclosure requirements and other important protections of which investors should be aware. In addition, the bulletin reminds investors of red flags of investment fraud, and that new technologies may be used to perpetrate investment schemes that may not comply with the federal securities laws.

 

The SEC’s investigation in this matter was conducted in the New York office by members of the SEC’s Distributed Ledger Technology Working Group (DLTWG) — Pamela Sawhney, Daphna A. Waxman, and Valerie A. Szczepanik, who heads the DLTWG — with assistance from others in the agency’s Divisions of Corporation Finance, Trading and Markets, and Investment Management. The investigation was supervised by Lara Shalov Mehraban.

The SEC’s decision to “register” ICOs may have a similar effect to its denial to allow a bitcoin ETF, which initially sent the price of bitcoin tumbling but then promptly reverse, and pushed it back to all time highs.

While the SEC’s intention to regulate ICOs will probably have an initial chilling effect on the market as it will make issuance of ICOs more problematic, it will also prove to be a blessing in disguise as it not only validates the blockchain capital raising mechanism, but considering some of the utterly idiotic ICOs and doomed to failure ICOs that have been observed in recent weeks, curb the proliferation of ponzi schemes and other get rich quick schemes which in many cases are beyond borderline criminal.

It will also also reduce the risk of drastic losses once the initial euphoria period passes, and only the more serious and credible coin offerings remain as a result, something which ultimately will benefit the blockchain in general, and ethereum in particular.

Ultimately, whether cryptocoin enthusiasts like it or not, regulation (and enforcement) will lead to a sturdier blockchain ecosystem, and while the potential for dramatic upward moves will be limited, so will the likelihood of catastrophic losses.

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Authored by Daniel Lang via SHTFplan.com,

I’d wager that most liberals are still in a bit of a shock over the fact that Donald Trump is in the White House. Never in a million years did they expect a brash, unapologetic billionaire and former reality TV star to win the highest office in the land. It was simply unthinkable.

Well, the Left should probably get ready for another unexpected election loss, because another eccentric conservative celebrity has decided to run for office.

Earlier this month, Kid Rock, the famous country/nu metal/rap musician announced that he was going to run for the senate seat in his home state of Michigan. Much like what happened when Trump announced his presidential bid, most observers assumed that Kid Rock’s announcement was just a publicity stunt. That notion was quickly dispelled once Kid Rock confirmed his ambitions on Twitter.

I have had a ton of emails and texts asking me if this website is real… https://t.co/RRVgISDFeq The answer is an absolute YES. http://pic.twitter.com/uYCUg6mjW1

— Kid Rock (@KidRock) July 12, 2017

And once again, much to the surprise of the establishment, the musician is surprisingly popular. A recent poll from Delphi Analytica showed that Robert “Kid Rock” Ritchie was preferred by voters, when compared to incumbent Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow.

To gauge Ritchie’s chances in a hypothetical general election matchup, Delphi Analytica conducted a poll from July 14-18 of 668 Michigan residents.

 

Of respondents who stated a preference between Debbie Stabenow and Robert Ritchie, 54% stated they would vote for Ritchie while 46% said they would vote for Debbie Stabenow.

 

These results could indicate that Ritchie is a popular figure in Michigan, Debbie Stabenow is unpopular, or some combination of concurrent trends. The relatively large, 44%, number of undecided respondents may be due to the early stages of the campaign.

And if you don’t think there’s a chance in hell that Kid Rock would win that Senate seat, ask yourself if this sounds familiar:

The star is in a decent position to run. He has very high name recognition in the state of Michigan and has a loyal fan base that enjoys his brash approach to life.

 

He also has a net worth between $80 and $120 million, according to the Federalist, so he could easily fully fund his own campaign without outside party funds.

Is it any wonder why progressives like Elizabeth Warren have been warning their supporters to take his election bid seriously?

“I know a lot of people are thinking: this is some sort of joke, right?” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote in an email to supporters obtained by CNN and first reported by the Boston Herald.

 

“Well, maybe this is all a joke — but we all thought Donald Trump was joking when he rode down the escalator at Trump Tower and announced his campaign, too,” she said.

 

“And sure, maybe this is just a marketing gimmick for a new album or tour — but we all thought Donald Trump was just promoting his reality TV show, too,” she added.

What a strange time to be alive.

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The recent trend of inventory draws (in crude and products) has supported higher Brent and WTI prices (the latter testing $48 today) despite surging production. API reported more of the same with a much larger than expected draw (-10.2mm vs -3mm exp), sending WTI above $48. All was not perfect in the report however as gasoline saw an unexpected build.

API

• Crude -10.2mm (-3mm exp) – biggest draw since Sept 2016
• Cushing  -2.568mm (-1mm exp)
• Gasoline  +1.9mm (-1.8mm exp)
• Distillates -111k

Gasoline surprised with an unexpected build in inventories but the massive crude draw (largest since Sept 2016) and a reduction in stocks at Cushing helped send crude proices higher…

WTI traded around $48 into the API print – having ripped higher the last two days after Saudi 'whatever it takes' comments – and blew through $48 on the API print…

“They have chased the bears back into the woods. Sentiment in the market is mildly bullish,” James Williams, an economist at London, Arkansas-based energy-research firm WTRG Economics,

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