Recently I sat down with IMPLAN economist, James Squibb, to discuss his recent paper acceptance at the upcoming International Input-Output Association (IIOA) conference in Brazil this June. This paper, an extension of Incorporating Port-Level Foreign Trade Data into IMPLAN’s Gravity Model to Estimate Region-Specific Foreign Trade Rates published in 2017 by James and Jennifer Thorvaldson, attempts to validate the reliability of the new gravity model updates. Here is what I learned.