Dozens of container ships are backed up at Southern California ports, waiting their turn to unload products meant to fill American store shelves through the holiday season. Builders have had a hard time obtaining windows, appliances and other key products needed to complete new homes. “The risk is that this becomes less about a natural cooling and more about the supply shortages that we’re seeing really starting to bite. Spending worldwide, and especially in the United States, shifted toward physical goods over services during the pandemic, more quickly than productive capacity could adjust. The Delta variant and continued spread of Covid has caused restrictions on production in some countries.

Source: New York Times September 27, 2021 09:00 UTC