Every time I read about some logistics issue - truck driver shortages, clogged ports, ag export problems, etc. - I do a quick Google search to see if this is a US-specific problem or something everybody is struggling with around the world. Every time it's global. As is inflation.
Some examples: Here is Europe's truck driver shortage. ft.com/content/e8ca2a…
Clogged ports affecting trade between Singapore and Piraeus, Greece. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Japan struggling to fix its supply chain disruptions. qz.com/2070498/japan-…
Logistics hurdles in central and eastern Europe too. ihsmarkit.com/research-analy…
The reasons are obvious: The entire world shut down its economy for over a year, leaving some random, irregular channels open. Manufacturing and shipping companies laid off people. Lots of early retirement. And then...suddenly demand jumped, primed with savings & stimulus cash.
The global economy depends on just-in-time logistics. In many ways it was this flexible, efficient global system based on free international flow of goods - and people - that pulled the US out of the economic woes of the 1970s. It has slack for local crises like bad storms.
But this global system has never had to confront a simultaneous global pandemic. Not since the end of World War II - or to a lesser extent the end of the Cold War - has there been such a sudden re-ignition of the global economy either. No surprise that things are out of whack!
If you made it this far in the thread, watch this excellent CBS 60 Minutes segment on the supply chain problem at the ports. It only covers the US part of a global problem, but it's really informative. cbsnews.com/news/supply-ch…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
