The New York Times has a fantastic piece on the pandemic-related supply shortages that are rippling throughout the economy.

Americans are largely used to getting whatever they want, when they want it, and quickly. The rise of Amazon has only increased people’s demand for near-instantaneous gratification. Not anymore. And it might be a while until things return to normal.

In fact, Adam S. Posen, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee and now the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said normalcy might be “another year or two” away.

The turmoil in international commerce has gone on longer than many expected because shortages and delays in some products have made it impossible to make others. The ripple effect of these shortages are impacting a wide variety of businesses, including Toyota, who will be reducing global production of cars by 40 percent.

The Times highlights the ripple effects in this anecdote.

Tony Hague’s company, PP Control & Automation, designs and builds systems for companies that make machinery used in a range of industries, from food processing to power generation. Demand for his products is expanding, and his roughly 240 employees have been working at full capacity. Still, he is contending with shortages.
One customer in England that makes machines to seal packaged food has been hobbled by its inability to secure needed parts. Its supplier in Japan used to take four to six weeks to deliver key devices; now it takes half a year. The Japanese factory has struggled to secure its own electrical components, most of them produced in Asia and using computer chips. Auto manufacturers’ desperation to secure chips has made those components harder to obtain.
“It’s definitely getting worse,” Mr. Hague said. “It hasn’t bottomed out yet.”

In other words, brace yourselves for more supply shortages. Read the entire article HERE.