Free Republic

As this terrible year of supply chain disruptions continues to worsen, we struggle to understand certain impossibilities. Why pay higher prices for worse service? Why can’t we end this crippling dependence on Chinese goods? And today’s question: how is it that there are more ships in the Pacific than ever before, but less capacity, so the cargo we need still doesn’t move? The Biden/Harris regime is proposing all sorts of illogical ideas, usually based on fines and surveys… because if penalties and questions are the things that politicians fear most, then surely penalties and questions can magically double the size...

There is an old saying: to a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. This is truly the only point of view from which the administrations recommended “solution” to current port congestion makes any sense. Consider this: at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the largest containership ports in the United States, a massive influx of volume over the past year has caused perpetual congestion. With volumes consistently 30% to 40% above the norm over the past year or so, these ports simply cannot handle the volume. It has now become common for 50 to 100 ships to...