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"the United States is the world's largest consumer market for a reason: its rivers. Transporting goods by water is 12 times cheaper than by land (which is why c
by rufus_foreman 3y ago
"the United States is the world's largest consumer market for a reason: its rivers. Transporting goods by water is 12 times cheaper than by land (which is why civilizations have always flourished around rivers). And the United States, Zeihan calculates, has more navigable waterways — 17,600 miles' worth — than the rest of the world. By comparison, he notes, China and Germany each have about 2,000 miles. And all of the Arab world has 120 miles."
-- https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fareed-zakaria-americas-prospects-are-promising-indeed/2014/11/20/eb91209a-70f3-11e4-ad12-3734c461eab6_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fareed-zakaria-ameri...
- anamax 2y agoTo be fair, Germany is fairly small (by US/China) standards. The continental US (no Alaska or Hawaii) is > 22.5 times as big as Germany but has only 8.8 times as many miles of "navigable waterways." (However, it's not clear if the US numbers include the Great Lakes or the oceans; LA to Seattle and Miami to NYC goes by ocean, not some river.) But, that doesn't leave much for the rest of Europe.