"Containergeddon,” is what Steve Ferreira of shipping consultancy Ocean Audit calls it, according to Reuters. “I don't think anyone's ever seen anything like this in their careers, anyone who's alive,” says a board member of a large shipping company whose family has been in the business for decades. What we are witnessing is a massive, unprecedented traffic jam of humankind's largest sea vessels that is at the very core of the conundrum. That was true and still is the case in Vietnam, for instance. Initially this was because factories in Asia (for example) had to close for weeks or even months because workers were sick with the coronavirus. No doubt you’ve heard how the world’s supply chain is being stressed like never before, resulting in shortages and delays in everything from semiconductors, to cars, sneakers, exercise equipment, and Rolexes. That brings us - 20 or so months into the COVID-19 pandemic - to a vast oceanic parking lot dotted with scores of giant container ships off the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. An under-recognized characteristic of any pandemic is its nonlinear course, which delivers, in true viral fashion, shocking, unanticipated consequences. Despite the nagging disruptions that mark much of what we do - and even worse the horror of continued sickness and death - in some ways, we can hope that the worst is behind us.īut not all of it. We know masks and social distancing are effective. This article was compiled from a feature in the October 2018 issue of BBC History Magazine which interviewed a panel of experts.As we head closer to the second anniversary (if that’s the right word for it) of the pandemic, it’s clear we’ve made some great progress fighting COVID-19. This became a risk in 2010, above all in Greece. If debt was too high, the country might default. Sovereign debt is the debt of national governments, with interest and repayment secured by taxation. Reflation refers to the use of policies that are employed to boost demand and increase the level of economic activity by increasing the money supply or reducing taxes, and so breaking the debt-deflation cycle. Individuals and businesses can borrow more, so boosting spending and increasing employment – though it is also possible that, when this process was employed, money went into buying equities, so boosting the gains of richer people. The institutions selling assets now have more money and the cost of borrowing is reduced. Quantitative easing is the process by which a central bank purchases government bonds and other financial assets from private financial institutions. Mutualisation of debt entails moving from a government bond that is the responsibility of a single member of the eurozone to make it the joint responsibility of all members. This is in contrast to fiscal policy which depends on changes in taxation or government spending. ![]() Monetary policy uses the supply of money and interest rates to influence economic activity. Macroeconomics refers to the behaviour and performance of the economy as a whole, by considering general economic factors such as the price level, productivity and interest rates. The International Monetary Fund is an organisation created in 1944 which now concentrates on structural reform of developing economies and resolving crises caused by debt. ![]() As a result, it was not possible to vary exchange rates to solve a balance of payments (the difference between payments into and out of a country) deficit, and instead costs were driven down and competitiveness restored by deflationary policies. The Gold Standard fixed exchange rates by the amount of gold in their currencies. ![]() Asset markets refer to classes of assets – houses, equities, bonds – each of which is traded with similar regulations and behaviour.ĭebt-deflation is the process by which, in a period of falling prices, interest on debt takes an increasing share of declining income and so reduces the amount of money available for consumption.
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