This latest disaster in China is a major blow to the international supply chain. Businesses should brace for a sharp descent into unknown territory and, most likely, a recession.
While the debate rages over whether the loss of industrial jobs is caused by offshoring, immigration or automation, the revolutionizing power of robots in the supply chain is becoming undeniable.
With states competing to attract businesses to their urban centers, it seems some are discovering potholes and rusting infrastructure are a real turnoff.
Cyclical market swings are being exacerbated by new legislation and the entry of Amazon into the delivery business — factors that are likely to drive rates even lower.
You’d be forgiven for believing that low-paid, non- or modestly skilled jobs in the supply chain are on the verge of being phased out by automation — especially the boring and repetitive ones.
When it comes to transportation technology’s efforts to realize the promise of unmanned vehicles and alternative fuel sources, we’re in a phase comparable to early efforts to lay a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. Stuff just keeps going wrong.
