Global Economy Bites Back

8/27/2014

The continuing decline of the global economy is visible everywhere. In Elizabeth, New
Jersey, container ships arrive less frequently, only partially filled or sometimes not at all. In
Singapore those same containers, once destined for the US and other ports, lie empty in
massive stacks near once bustling ports. And all over the United States, people wait in lines
for supplies that were once plentiful and easy to come by. In some areas, nerves are
beginning to fray as tensions grow.

A riot broke out at a Wal Mart outside of Phoenix on Tuesday after supplies failed to arrive
on schedule. An unthinkable circumstances only two years ago, consumers were forced to
wait in lines as long as 8 hours in the hot sun for simple goods that never arrives. "Is it so
hard to get asthma medicine from one warehouse to another?" asked Janet Evans, a former
legal assistant and mother of two. "I desperately need this medicine for my son, who suffers
from uncontrollable asthma attacks. The whole time I stood in that line I was worried sick
that he might be having an attack."

Representatives from Wal Mart did not respond to inquiries about their supply chain, save
for a generic press release that described their shipping and supply chain as the "envy of the
developed world".