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The world is no longer flat": whatever one thinks of Tom Friedman's slogan, the oil price boom has certainly sapped it. Listen:
The cost of shipping a 40 foot container from Shanghai to the east coast of North America has gone from $3,000 in 2000 to $8,000 because of the cost of fuel, and for many products, the Asian cost advantage has virtually disappeared.
Nervous yet? It gets better:
Shipping costs to and from Asia have risen so much that they have eclipsed tariffs as a barrier to global trade, Mr. Rubin and Mr. Tal say, calling the cost of moving goods “the largest barrier to global trade today.”
“In fact,” they say, “in tariff-equivalent terms, the explosion in global transport costs has effectively offset all the trade liberalization efforts of the last three decades.”
(via Bruce Sterling: "Fuel Spikes Make It Rounder")
2 comments:
The prices are getting tooooooo crazy. We're almost at the peak. Have you seen what oilheat users have gone through? Crazy. I think the best option for them right now, is to switch to bioheat. Green is the biggest thing right now, so why not go green with oil. Current oilheat users can use a B5 blend and reduce emissions, eliminate greenhouse gases, and most important of all help conserve 400 MILLION gallons of oil. Working for NORA, I have been able to research many heating alternatives, but bioheat always tends to stick out as a huge help to existing users. Here's a link with more info: http://oilheatamerica.com/index.mv?screen=bioheat
Greetings, addie. I agree that bioheat should grow.
We heat our home entirely by wood, some of the oldest bioheat. Maybe I should put up some pics of this year's woodpiles.
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