Chokepoints can make Carolinians gag

To paraphrase the familiar line, you may not be interested in international shipping, but international shipping is interested in you.Whether you like it or not, virtually every hour of your day involves consumption of or exposure to goods that are either imported from other countries or use imports as an input. Food, clothing, shelter, transportation, recreation and leisure, even healthcare and education — all are currently produced in a context of cross-national supply chains. When those chains get disrupted, the effects can be immediate and significant.Some are obvious. The outbreak of military conflicts in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, for example, has crimped oil exports and severely damaged refineries in the region. As a result, North Carolinians are paying much more at the pump for gasoline and, especially, diesel.Other effects are less obvious but no less costly.

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