3 ms·
to be fair most of trade today is overly interconnected for no good reason, i have seen scenarios mentioned where part is made in brazil, shipped to singapore,
by techsin101 4y ago
to be fair most of trade today is overly interconnected for no good reason, i have seen scenarios mentioned where part is made in brazil, shipped to singapore, then assembled in thailand then shipped to usa. but it somehow comes cheaper than assembling in brazil and shipping to usa because of existing volume or something. but that's very shortsighted. Sure free market is efficient. But what it's not is forward looking. Govt can step in kick start reactions which leads to enough volume from brazil to usa to make that economical as well. but it'd have advantage of less fragile supply chain and more env friendly process....
- swagasaurus-rex 4y agoSeems like the low cost of ocean freight, especially compared to the infrastructural costs of rail or road, mean that it's often cheaper to trade with your oceanic neighbors than to even other parts of your own country. This isn't new, Mediterranean has throughout history linked the Middle East, Egypt, North Africa and Europe through ocean trade routes. These trade routes have, on occasion, collapsed to disastrous effect.
- techsin101 4y agoI mean it happens organically that math works out that way. But there is an opportunity for govt to create geographically closer pipelines of trade in order to better the reliability of supply chain and environmental effect. For example, there is no reason for stuff to go from mexico to thailand just to be assembled. Only reason could be is that there is existing talent that is available to do it, but brazil lacks those skills. But if govt worked with brazil govt to train for those skills and kick-started industry, then the cost might be even more cheaper due to saving on the half the world trip.