ABC News had a fascinating story on tonight about some effects of increased oil prices. Relying on my cloudy memory, I thought these facts were fascinating:
* The average cost of shipping a container on a container ship from China to California used to be $3,000. It is now $8,000.
* Consequently, manufacturing in China for the American market is not as financially advantageous as it once was. In fact, according to the report, furniture companies in North Carolina are getting work that had been going to China. Companies that had manufactured in China are returning their operations to the United States.
It looks like the American lifestyle is not the only thing dependent on cheap oil. Could it be that the Chinese economy is, too?
It took me a while to find the story on ABC's web site, but here it is. In the process I found this,
George Flint, a lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners' Association, says many of the brothels are seeing decreases in revenue anywhere from 20 to 45 percent [because of higher gasoline prices]. He says he has "never seen it this dramatic" in 48 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment