It’s Thinking Time! Buckle up for a quick recap of global events. This week we cover the dockworkers’ strike across the east coast, the devastation of Hurricane Helene, and Fidelity’s efforts to safeguard its customers against fraud.
TBL Thinks is our way to summarize the most important paywalled, longer reads relevant to global macroeconomics, helping you cut through the noise. With that in mind, please enjoy.
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Dockworkers Strike Across East Coast Ports
Dockworkers Launch Strike at Ports from Maine to Texas (WSJ) Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas began walking picket lines in a strike over wages and automation. The International Longshoremen’s Association is seeking a 77% pay increase—from $39 to $69 base per hour wage over six years—for its ~45,000 members. The head of the ILA, Harold Daggett, rejected an offer for a 50% pay increase over six years earlier this week. Even if wages are agreed upon, the two sides will have to negotiate over the issue of expanded use of automation, which the union is against, asking for a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates, and container-moving trucks.
Daggett believes his union members deserve a piece of the multi-billion dollar pie that the world’s largest shipping companies made during the pandemic, and more recently during the disruptions in the supply chain caused by the war in the Middle East.
The White House believes that as of yet, the impact of the strike on consumers will be limited, and has thus far discounted forcing dockworkers back to work—the President has the power to force strikers back to work for an 80-day “cooling off period” as per the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act designed to protect employee rights against unfair union practices. The strike has the potential to impact the imports of food, vehicles, heavy machinery, construction materials, chemicals, furniture, clothes and toys. Some big retailers, preparing for the holiday season, put their orders in earlier and are able to withstand the slowdown, and others are diverting cargoes to West Coast ports, but all agree a shutdown a week or longer will push up shipping costs and trigger product shortages.
A strike lasting even one week would tie up ships for much longer periods, which could exacerbate shipping delays, eat up capacity and drive up freight rates, according to industry analysts.
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The Devastation of Helene
North Carolina in Crisis Mode as Helene Rescue Continues (WSJ) Hurricane Helene landed this week and bought with it unprecedented destruction. At least 120 people have been killed across six states in the Southeastern US, where homes and buildings and roads have washed away and key infrastructure has failed.
The current administration has declared parts of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia major disaster areas, which enables the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide federal assistance such as grants for temporary housing and repairs. FEMA reported it has delivered millions of liters of water, along with food, generators, and tarps to the affected areas. Residents of affected areas are criticizing the slow response of the government, and the lack of urgency for preparedness expressed before the hurricane hit.
The hurricane has also dealt a devastating blow to cotton growers who face losses and delays just as harvesting season was beginning. It is estimated that 400,000 to 800,000 bales of cotton may be lost due to the hurricane, representing about 5.5% of the total US production for this season. Crops in eastern Georgia were the hardest hit, with some growers facing total losses, while others are seeing 30% to 50% drops in production. The hurricane adds to the woes of cotton farmers who are expected to see a 24% drop in cash receipts from the previous year on lower prices and sales volumes.
Helene has also halted chicken processing plants, caused severe damage to some flocks, and downed pecan trees. According to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the state expects Helene to be more costly than Hurricane Michael in 2018, which caused $2.5 billion in agricultural damage, adding that while each commodity was affected, cotton, poultry, pecans, and timber were hit the hardest.
From WSJ, Courtesy of Reuters
Fidelity Working Against Fraud Wave
Fidelity Slashes Mobile Deposit Limits Following Fraud Wave (WSJ) Fidelity just put stricter rules on deposits customers make through its mobile app, as it tries to protect its customers from a check-fraud scheme that targeted the company earlier this month.
Certain customers saw their deposit limits lowered to $1,000 from $100,000, while others are seeing a 16-day hold put on their deposits before the money is made available to withdraw or invest. The restrictions only effect cash management accounts, not retirement accounts.
The check-fraud scheme Fidelity was hit by shares similarities to the schemes that JP Morgan Chase and other banks were affected by last month, wherein users of social media shared videos about a “glitch” in Chase bank’s system that allowed users to deposit large checks and withdraw funds from ATM’s immediately, even if sufficient funds weren’t available. Part of our enthusiasm for bitcoin is the simple obsolescence of certain aspects of the banking industry.
The organizers of these scams rely on social media platforms like TikTok and Telegram to recruit customers of the targeted firms, and promise customers a cut of the proceeds in exchange for access to their accounts. The attack on Fidelity was a variation of the attack on JP Morgan Chase, and check-fraud scammers exploited Fidelity’s mobile-app which only requires customers to photograph a check to make a deposit.
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