The Economist – Page 5
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Feeling the pain in Asia
COMMENT: Global trade for the first eleven months of 2015 has at best been flat, but of those, eight months were negative or had no growth. The next six months are likely to be similar in nature, writes Ben Hackett.
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NewsBeware of great expectations
COMMENT: The leaders of the major economies are hoping that next year will be better than 2015 is turning out to be as the stock markets crash around us, wars engulf us in more places than can be rushed to and consumers remain wary of their future. However, the signs ...
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NewsIs Ukraine's optimism misplaced?
COMMENT: Your Economist recently spent two days attending a conference on container shipping and ports in Odessa, where the popular catchphrase is “victory, freedom and peace” in that order, writes Ben Hackett.
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Economic hurdles remain
COMMENT: Ports and terminals around the world are making major investments in upgrading facilities, building new ones and re-financing what they have. It seems as if there is a general belief that global trade will return to the growth paths seen before the Great Recession and that shipowners will pursue ...
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NewsAffordability of economies of scale
COMMENT: Like all things in our world we try to keep up with new trends in order not to be at a disadvantage. In economic terms this is known as comparative advantage, defined as the ability of a firm to produce goods and/or services at a lower opportunity cost than ...
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On the brink of change
COMMENT: 2014 was a mixed year for economic fundamentals but little of this impacted the flow of trade, writes Ben Hackett.
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Just who's laughing now?
COMMENT: Reading the press since the end of the labour dispute on the US West Coast brings a smile to one''s lips. The build-up of the West Coast congestion was relatively slow, as the ILWU and the PMA were locked in negotiations and shippers and carriers worked on how to ...
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NewsLimits of economies of scale
COMMENT: We have long believed that economies of scale are the saviour of the maritime industry, for all sectors ranging from terminals and bulk, to tankers and containerships. But in the last few months we have begun to hear opinions suggesting that containerships have reached their maximum size. So, wherein ...
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All change in the eurozone
COMMENT: A change of fiscal strategy for the Eurozone began with the Swiss de-coupling from the Euro, followed by the injection of €60bn a month for up to 18 months into the Eurozone economies and the change of government in Greece, writes Ben Hackett.
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Out of the frying pan
COMMENT: Things are getting serious on the US West Coast: due in part to ongoing negotiations with labour at US West Coast ports not enough potatoes have been getting through to Japan for McDonald’s to meet demand for its French fries, writes Mike Mundy.
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NewsBetter things to come in 2015?
COMMENT: The port industry is impacted by global and regional economics but not always in the direct way that one would expect. As an example, the weakness of the European Union in 2014 did not directly translate into a weak flow of cargo in Europe, but on the other hand ...
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NewsDownside of economies of scale
Global carriers, having a hard time managing their pricing strategies, and therefore their profitability, turned to larger vessel sizes in the search for economies of scale that would lower the slot cost of voyages.
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NewsWalking the economic tightrope
The US continues to expand its economy but this is not enough to stop the sharp volatility in the stock markets, the volatility in exchange rates and the flattening out of trade.
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The Ukrainian port bubble
COMMENT: Attending a conference in Odessa in September on the topic of the Black Sea ports and trade was like being in a bubble of peace and prosperity, writes Ben Hackett.
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NewsThe idiosyncrasies of economics
COMMENT: The life of an economist is truly challenging. We are always blamed for getting things wrong and accused of finding great excuses of why we should have been on the mark with our projections. When if we get things right it is rarely remembered for long, writes Ben Hackett.
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Heading for a new economic crisis
China has scuttled the development of super alliances with its negative decision on the P3 whose rationale was for joint fleet management by the top three carriers which would have resulted in a reduction of capacity, which in turn would lead to a rise in freight rates.
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NewsUneven growth dampens spirits
COMMENT: The European Commission has predicted low inflation will remain a threat to euro-area expansion for at least the next two years as it trimmed its economic-growth forecast and warned of the impact of tensions with Russia - but this is tempered by uneven performance among the members, writes Ben ...
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NewsAre we there yet?
Irrelevant of what we are talking about in the maritime industry the answer is no. Excess capacity will continue to be the cross to bear for a number of years to come.
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NewsDemand versus counting beans
Lo and behold, the container shipping executives have discovered that they cannot control their own pricing. What an earth-shattering revelation; how much do they earn to come up with this news?
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Applying the economic paradox
We have come across the term ''paradox'', when the opposite of what one expects happens; can we apply it to economics? Of course we can.
