Yesterday the stuck ship in the Suez Canal was a symbol for the immense fragility of the global trade system. Today it's suddenly a nothingburger:
"Even" the Suez debacle can't hold back global trade!
Come on, folks. The Suez blockage was a minor mishap that produced lots of funny memes and will cost insurance companies a few million dollars. That's it. It is not a metaphor for anything and it doesn't mean we need to rethink the entire operation of the canal or the size of container ships or our dependence on foreign trade or anything else. OK?
Still, I'm getting extra toilet paper.
OMG are you kidding?!? It was the hugest most catastrophic international debacle ever in the history of the entire planet!! There's a reason it got non-stop media coverage for day after day, which has nothing to do with hype and advertising revenue and lots of great train-wreck video footage, and everything to do with the biggest most gigantic news story in living memory!!!
... until the next one, that is.
I blame Obama.
Yes, as usual Obama left a real mess for Trump to clean up, and now Biden will take credit for it (s).
Well it is going to be a major mishap for someone!
Egypt said it may seek around $1 billion in compensation after a giant container vessel blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week and roiled shipping markets.
The figure is a rough estimate of losses linked to transit fees, damage to the waterway during the dredging and salvage efforts, and the cost of equipment and labor, the Suez Canal Authority’s chief executive officer, Osama Rabie, said late Wednesday to local television channel Sada Elbalad.
He did not specify who the Canal Authority would seek compensation from.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-01/egypt-may-seek-1-billion-in-compensation-for-suez-canal-crisis?sref=MIcoSLsi
The last line is of course the key takeaway from the above....Even if Egypt eats the damages, they were real to a country already tottering from time to time.
I'm just glad I'm not the Captain of that ship! A bad day indeed!
Best Wishes, Traveller
I feel less sorry for that captain than for all of those doomed animals on many ships for additional days.
They actually need to prepare better for the results of sand storms if they're going to shove ships through during high wind events. If they had a dredger that was able to get there the first day, it would have been a different situation.
China and other Asian countries controlled the coronavirus far better than Western countries, so they are probably heading back into full production earlier and supplying even more of our stuff than they did before. Might that cause some rethinking?
My opinion piece, ready to run in NYT or WSJ (or Mother Jones) any day:
"Here's why proves I was right about everything."
There, I saved you an hour of reading every day.
It's actually a great test of our global transportation network, and we came out looking good. I'm glad we're not overdependent on the Suez canal, because any number of things could take it out of operation for a while.
Oh I don't know, I think it's a pretty good illustration of the downside of endless growth economics.
The REAL crisis is the insatiable hunger for Massive! Worrying! Headlines! That! Will! Get! The! Editor! Off! My! Back!
US media has a drama problem. They're hooked of flashy bullshit. There are maybe three news outfits who could tell me they take seriously the political role journalists have to play in the health of the country, and I wouldn't laugh in their faces.
People scream at me whenever I say this, but the Times will not get another dime from me unless and until they fix their executive problem. If they fail before that happens, oh well. Leaves room for something honest to maybe grow back.
This planet needs an enema.