The supply chain mess was a foreseeable disaster
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

View this email in your browser

Illustration: Peter and Maria Hoey

 

Dear reader,



In 2015, the Federal Maritime Commission created a document that
probably sat on a shelf collecting dust for many years. It described a
future at our nation's ports with clogged terminals, idling trucks,
unavailable chassis and containers, and mass congestion. It said that
future would become reality if events at the ports were allowed to
continue unfixed.

Seven years later, we're living that reality. And it was a known
inevitability. The ports sit in the middle of a tangled nest of unwise
policy choices made over the past half-century, dealing with the
consequences despite a disastrous lack of investment and manpower to
handle the ever-burgeoning flood of cargo.

Prospect staff writer Alex Sammon unearthed this 2015 document that was
a blueprint to the chaos at the ports that is driving the supply chain
crisis. We knew the problems years ago but failed to act. It's a
terrific piece that helps explain how bad policy caused shortages and
raised prices.

You can read Alex's story here.
  

You can read all the stories in our special issue, How We Broke the
Supply Chain, as they are released, at
prospect.org/supplychain

And, you can help support this work by becoming a member today
. All
of the reader support we receive funds our editorial mission:
illuminating stories about ideas, politics and power.

If you're already a Prospect member, THANK YOU!

We can't do special issues like this without you. And if the Prospect
doesn't do it, there aren't many other places that will.

BECOME A MEMBER

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
David Dayen, Executive Editor
The American Prospect

 

Your contribution is tax deductible, and goes directly to supporting our
editorial team. American Prospect, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit
organization incorporated in the District of Columbia. EIN 52-1617061.
Copyright (c) 2022 The American Prospect. All rights reserved.

Stop receiving emails about our Supply Chain special issue.

Manage Your Newsletter Preferences
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

The American Prospect, Inc., 1225 I Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC xxxxxx, United States