More Shortages Coming?

Are You Ready for the EVERYTHING Shortage?

Robert Wheeler

For several months, many of my articles covered the global shortages and coming shortages facing the worldwide economy. My articles warn of food, chip, fuel, and commodity shortages. I also wrote about inflation, crop failures, and scarcity of any goods that consumers may need or want. 

One such article: “The World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything,” by Brendan Murray, Enda Curran, and Kim Chipman. This piece sums up many of the issues I’ve written about for several months, albeit much later.

To start, Murray, Curran, and Chipman write:

A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying. Today, on the rebound, its companies are furiously trying to stock up.

Mattress producers to car manufacturers to aluminum foil makers are buying more material than they need to survive the breakneck speed at which demand for goods is recovering and assuage that primal fear of running out. The frenzy is pushing supply chains to the brink of seizing up. Shortages, transportation bottlenecks, and price spikes are nearing the highest levels in recent memory, raising concern that a supercharged global economy will stoke inflation.

But, wait, there are MORE global shortages to report

The writers also mention the global shortages of raw materials, crops, and other essential commodities. The effect of the current supply disruptions is seen not just on the economy but also daily life.

They write: 

Copper, iron ore, and steel. Corn, coffee, wheat, and soybeans. Lumber, semiconductors, plastic, and cardboard for packaging. The world is seemingly low on all of it. “You name it, and we have a shortage on it,” Tom Linebarger, chairman, and chief executive of engine and generator manufacturer Cummins Inc., said on a call this month. Clients are “trying to get everything they can because they see high demand,” Jennifer Rumsey, the Columbus, Indiana-based company’s president, said. “They think it’s going to extend into next year.”

The difference between the big crunch of 2021 and past supply disruptions is the sheer magnitude of it and the fact that there is — as far as anyone can tell — no clear end in sight. Big or small, few businesses are spared.