A central feature of a modern industrial society, especially one with a highly interconnected and geographically spread out supply chain with complex logistics, is that they are surprisingly difficult to restart once they break down.
Hope that does not happen here but we shall see. Lots of crazy stuff like producers shipping perishable frozen fish and poultry from the US to China to have it processed there and shipped back to the US for sale
Was really gobsmacked on many levels when I was informed of that one. Total irrational business case combined with reckless irresponsibility on the part of decision makers involved
This virus is really not that severe so far but the fallout is starting to hit home. Suspect it is going to expose some very bad management decisions with some harshly negative consequences - even with at this early juncture
The real fun starts when companies learn that their chinese job shops have been subcontracting to lower cost of production, fly by night producers in such garden spots as Cambodia, Burma, Laos or North Korea.
You know its bad when Vietnam is the gold standard of these lower tier subcontractors
A lot of these often very corrupt countries and sub contractors don't even have a functioning legal or law enforcement system in the best of times and property rights and contract enforcement is best described as law of the jungle.
That's assuming that the basic infrastructure like water, electricity and sanitation , a significant challenge and risk in the best of times, continues to function at adequate levels as this virus spreads. In these cases, force majeure clauses devolve to the entity with major force on the ground to resolve
“...assuming that the basic infrastructure like water, electricity and sanitation...continues to function at adequate levels...”
Sanitation being the biggest worry.