With crises looming in inflation and a failing supply chain Americans may soon face shortages that significantly limit what they can purchase. The Biden economy shows no sign of improvement, despite assurances from the White House that solutions are being developed. Supply chain issues spawned by the pandemic have created bottlenecks that are threatening to disrupt global trade in a way which will impact the average American personally.
Shortages before Christmas
A bottleneck at the Port of Los Angeles has left dozens of container ships stuck offshore and unable to unload their cargo.
In an attempt to alleviate the situation the port will begin to carry on with operations 24/7, a plan which the White House has encouraged.
Biden has promised that the White House will do all it can to ensure that shortages do not effect Christmas. Outside analysts remain skeptical about his chances.
Supply chain issues are not just an American problem; the pandemic has exacerbated logistic challenges across the world and international shipping may be slow to recover.
In the United States much of the supply chain lies in the hands of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose lack of experience in managing these concerns does not inspire much confidence.
Presidents often seem to treat the less prominent cabinet positions as interchangeable tokens to be handed out to political friends. Buttigieg hasn’t had much experience in managing transportation but he is a useful demographic addition for the Biden cabinet.
Logistics situation not improving
The consequences of this mismanagement might become very apparent as Americans attempt to buy Christmas gifts and find that they what much they want can’t be delivered on time.
East Asia is at the heart of the global logistical sluggishness and many consumer goods will be unavailable if manufacturing and shipping from Asia continues to lag behind expectations.
Most of this is yet another consequence of the love many American companies have for outsourcing manufacturing to China and other cheap labor sources.
Money saved by not having to pay more to produce goods in America means very little when companies are unable to move what is produced to the consumers.
Shortages in truck drivers are also contributing to the American supply chain problem. The government is promising to speed up the issuing of commercial drivers licenses in response.
Overall the responses from the White House have largely aimed to alleviate the logistics bottlenecks . The root causes will be much more difficult to address.