The Fed’s inflation fight faces a new challenge: A dry Panama Canal

Bloomberg/Laura Curtis, Ruth Liao and Michael McDonald/6-2-2023

“Just as the world’s delivery bottlenecks are easing, Panama’s drought and worrisome weather patterns elsewhere threaten to revive some of the chaos of 2021, when a surge in shipping costs and consumer demand resulted in shortages of goods, helping to drive US inflation to a four-decade high.”

USAGOLD note: One of those unforeseen circumstances that can wreak havoc with central banks’ monetary policy……The shift to El Nino weather patterns translates to severe drought in Panama – perhaps for months to come.