The global supply chain nightmare is about to get worse

[Justice matters.]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: CNN Business

Computer chip shortages. Epic port congestion. And a serious lack of truck drivers. The world's delicate supply chains are under extreme stress.

The supply chain nightmare is jacking up prices for consumers and slowing the global economic recovery. Unfortunately, Moody's Analytics warns supply chain disruptions "will get worse before they get better."

"As the global economic recovery continues to gather steam, what is increasingly apparent is how it will be stymied by supply-chain disruptions that are now showing up at every corner," Moody's wrote in a Monday report.

Indeed, the IMF downgraded its 2021 US growth forecast on Tuesday by one percentage point, the most for any G7 economy. The IMF cited supply chain disruptions and weakening consumption — which itself has been partially driven by supply chain bottlenecks such as a lack of new cars amid the computer chip shortage.



Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/12/business/global-supply-chain-nightmare/index.html

---

Our species consumes 1.5 times the resources of this planet every year.

This runaway train of endless "New" stuff with expiration dates is unsustainable.

[roamer65]

1. This man is a prophet.

Last edited Wed Oct 13, 2021, 12:34 AM - Edit history (1)

[brer cat]

9. +1

[C Moon]

2. We have to remember we're in a class war.

I don't think the mega-rich are happy with the likes of Biden giving "their money" to the lower classes.

[cstanleytech]

15. I would not be surprised if some of them were not involved in actively causing disruptions like

Moscow Mitch and the other Republican in the Senate and House as well as the varies Republican governors such as those in Florida and Texas.
Why? Because they want to inflict financial hardships on the average person so that they can blame Biden and the Democrats for it.

[Farmer-Rick]

29. But what capitalist doesn't love a supply disruption?

They can then charge astronomical prices for what trickles out.

It's the whole idea behind the cost of diamonds, oil cartels, doctors and even water. When some South American countries privatized their water, the first thing they did was stop people from collecting rainwater.

Choke off the supply and now competition is gone and everything that comes through has a huge price.

When the bird flu wiped out factory farm egg production (dead birds don't lay eggs) my eggs sold for about 30 percent more. But soon even the horrific caged bird egg farms started to realize that free range chickens weren't getting sick and dying.

I suspect this is also helped along by globalization. At least many small free range egg farmers were there to pick up the slack when the virus hit. But the US has no back up plan for manufacturing if a virus or crisis hits.

But it's a win-win for capitalist when supply chains crash with no back up.

[myohmy2]

3. does this mean...

...another lump of coal in my stocking for Christmas?

...hope not...

[cinematicdiversions]

7. Not with current energy prices. Nt

[orangecrush]

32. ...

[Hoyt]

4. Gonna take some serious government intervention to solve this.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Speaking of which

I heard about this early this morning on the radio - https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/13/economy/supply-chains-biden-ports/index.html

[Skittles]

5. maybe they should not have offshored so much

fucking morons

[LT Barclay]

12. Sending jobs and technology should have been viewed as equivalent to selling military secrets.

[Skittles]

13. absolutely correct

all they cared about is money then, and that is all they care about now

[Farmer-Rick]

30. Or had back up production

As a nation we could have smaller factories strategically placed throughout the US to provide back up. They could be quickly expanded in case of emergencies.

It's one of the reasons monopolies are so destructive and why compitition is encouraged by capitalists. Compitition and monopoly free markets usually have a lot of redundancy with many businesses providing the same services or products.
So, if one business suffers the other businesses can step in.

Unless you remove the function of manufacturing or farming or energy production totally from your country. Then this happens.

[Politicub]

33. It was incredibly short-sighted to offshore semiconductor production.

When it comes to chip production, it will take years to get new fabrication facilities up and running. They're very expensive to build, and the window of time it takes to become operational isn't compatible with the expectations that Wall Street has for growth.

Short-sightedness is a characteristic of modern capitalism. I've witnessed many great companies fall because they were unable to return the astronomical growth that Wall Street demands. This usually starts by the board bringing in a ruthless CEO who lays people off and sells valuable company assets, like real estate and manufacturing facilities.

Then the CEO gets lauded by business media for pulling off a miraculous turn-around for a company's stock. The trouble is that the stock growth is not sustainable. At all. How could it be when the elements of success of a company are sold off? Then, moronically, the same assets are leased back to the company.

Finally, the CEO jumps with a golden parachute, only to wreck another company.

And the cycle continues. The global, pandemic-driven shutdown showed that modern capitalism does not create the structure needed for a resilient society. I'm glad government is able to step-in, but I would like to see legislation that takes away the incentives for offshoring. I don't know how the problems with the short-term planning view of publicly-traded companies could be fixed.

[dweller]

6. I made a quick trip to the grocery tonite

Just wanted some yogurt, and it’s on the further aisle … on the way I glanced down rows and noted many empty shelves, sparse amounts on the shelves …
At the end where dairy is was also frozen foods cases … frozen pizza was very sporadic, 2-3 where once a dozen would be stocked, empty spaces abound … I wonder how much is availability as opposed to lack of trucking … also noted help wanted sign at the door for many positions…
I wonder how ugly it’s going to get?



✌🏻

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. Where do you live?

I'm in Santa Fe and I'm not seeing any food shortages in the grocery stores. Sometimes paper goods like toilet paper, tissues, or paper towels will be in slightly short supply, but not the way it was last year.

I have gotten so I tend to stay stocked up on those things more so than I ever did in the past. I no longer wait until I've put the last roll of toilet paper on the holder before I go and buy more. I'm also buying cat food and kitty litter in advance of need.

[dweller]

11. NC

Chapel Hill … it’s the first time I’ve noticed lack … and it was just the one store, there 2 more chain stores, plus a Walmart and they are always out of some goods

✌🏻

[Sherman A1]

16. The "benefits" of just in time inventory systems

And ordering practices are rearing their head. Companies dumped all their eggs into the “just in time” inventory practices and here we are. Small hiccups in the past would generally go unnoticed, now ……not so much. This is brought to you by the “Walmartization” of the retail sector in the 1980s and 90s.

[cstanleytech]

20. I still see plenty of trucks on the road and they would not be on the road if they were empty.

Mind you there might be a problem at the ports with offloading in which case the government might want to look at mobilizing the national guard to help clear up any backlog there.

[Farmer-Rick]

31. Yeah, during the first wave of the pandemic,

There were hardly any trucks on the road. Now they are back to what it was.

[Politicub]

34. The bypass around Atlanta is flooded with more trucks than I have ever seen.

Plus, it appears that Norfolk Southern has added more freight trains to its schedule because I can hear the whistles more frequently from where I live.

While more reliable media outlets may be factual with the numbers and projections about the supply chain, the perception of the problem is inflated by the nature of how people perceive media coverage. And, it doesn't help that people don't know the difference between opinion and news.

[stopdiggin]

10. "Our species consumes 1.5 times the resources of this planet every year."

Now there's a statement that has me scratching my head.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. Yeah, me too.

It seems to me that you'd run out of resources around the end of August. Once you hit zero, where do you get more?

[stopdiggin]

22. we obviously need somebody smarter

to explain ....

(torn between thinking this was exceptionally poor wording, transcription? - or perhaps just ground level ignorance)

[BigmanPigman]

14. Will people realize that they don't need all the new

shit that they keep purchasing? Stop buying a new phone every other year. Stop buying a new anything because it is "new" or the "latest version" of crap. Stop buying the latest hideous fashions. Stop buying crap that can't be recycled. Stop thinking about impressing your peers with the latest interior design trends. Just STOP and THINK...do you really NEED it or do you simply desire it?

We need people to act like it is the Great Depression and learn how to save and recycle. People did it because they had to and they learned how to live without everything they desired at their fingertips.

[rownesheck]

21. But

Terry Jones next door got the new 2021 Ford F-150 with the magic tailgate and popout jet wings that make it look like some cool superhero truck! What will my family and friends think of me if I don't get one?! Also, my kids all need the new iPhone 38! Their friends will make fun of them if they only have the 37! This is 'Merica, and I do what I want!

[dalton99a]

25. +1

[forthemiddle]

26. Do you really think people acting like it was the Great Depression

Will help us in the next election cycle?
Seriously telling people they can't get their new products, not because they can't afford them, but because the supply chain in broken is not going to make for a very happy populous.
This, inflation, and raising gas prices, are all a recipe for a great GOP take over once again.
Go ahead and tell America that they are all a bunch of spoiled consumers, and wait for the electoral blood bath!

And don't think stating that it's not the Democrats fault will help. They are in charge now, and the ruling party will ALWAYS get the blame, rightly or wrongly.

[Politicub]

35. People are not spending as much on entertainment and travel.

And so disposable income goes toward other things. We live in a consumer-driven economy, and that's not going to suddenly change.

I'm not saying this is good or bad, but it is a factor in pricing.

[luv2fly]

17. It'll be Biden's fault

Just watch the corporate media as this unfolds...

(insert long sigh here)

[Justice matters.]

27. It's the "supply side economics" fault.

We're ALL at fault.

We get caught up in the marketing propaganda.

Apart from being a voluntary outcast living in the woods from fruits and vegetables, we're ALL guilty.

What's the solution? Biden doesn't have it no more than we have, the corporate media even more. Why don't THEY find it? No. They have to turn record profits year after year after year for their corporate masters and themselves.

[Efilroft Sul]

23. My kids' high school can't provide school lunches half the time.

We live in a large, middle/upper middle class district, and food deliveries are not making it to our schools.

[inwiththenew]

24. I hate to say it but the only way I see this getting resolved is through a recession or period

of economic decline where people and companies slow down buying. I don't want it to happen mind you, but I don't see a way out of this. I think we are locked in a cycle of long lead times for products that lead to less products and the ones available are at a higher cost because of everything that has happened over the past almost 2 years now. The only way it breaks is for a large and sustained drop off in demand that you often see in a period of recession.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

28. White House announces that The Port of L.A. expanding to 24/7 operations among other measures

Link to tweet

[Omaha Steve]

36. After a review by forum hosts....LOCKING

This story is analysis/feature.

Post the latest news from reputable mainstream news websites and blogs. Important news of national interest only. No analysis or opinion pieces. No duplicates. News stories must have been published within the last 12 hours. Use the published title of the story as the title of the discussion thread.