Where does the Global Economy go from here?

 

The Spectacular, Sudden Crash of the Global Economy (Alternet)

In a short period of months, the entire system of global capitalism has screeched to a halt. No one knows what happens next.

The worldwide economic meltdown has sent the wheels spinning off the project of building a single, business-friendly global economy.

Worldwide, industrial production has ground to a halt. Goods are stacking up, but nobody's buying; the Washington Post reportsthat "the world is suddenly awash in almost everything: flat-panel televisions, bulldozers, Barbie dolls, strip malls, Burberry stores." A Hong Kong-based shipping broker told The Telegraphthat his firm had "seen trade activity fall off a cliff. Asia-Europe is an unmit igated disaster." The Economist noted that one can now ship a container from China to Europe for free -- you only need to pick up the fuel and handling costs -- but half-empty freighters are the norm along the world's busiest shipping routes.  Global airfreight dropped by almost a quarter in December alone; Giovanni Bisignani, who heads a shipping industry trade group, called the "free fall" in global cargo "unprecedented and shocking."

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• 'Unprecedented' fall in air cargo (news.bbc.co.uk)