Supply Lines
Calculating the Costs of Shutting Borders to Trade
Trucks wait in line to enter the Port of Oakland last week.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
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Across North America and Europe, lockdowns of entire communities and countries are underway. Borders are closing to travel even as governments insist that cargo and trade will still be allowed to pass. That may be a moot point. Economies running into a brick wall tend to see collapses in trade. We learned that in 2009.