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0 pointsls6125y ago0 comments

This isn't really a tragedy of the commons, the price of shipping containers will rise until it is profitable to return the containers to Asia. This is a classic example of markets working to allocate resources via pricing signals. The only quirk is that when there is a month-long ocean voyage involved there is some lag time before things change.

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oasisbob5y ago· 1 in thread

I would call it a market failure if someone wants to obtain a container, and cannot do so at any price.

There are ag producers on the west coast who cannot obtain containers regardless of cost. That article quoted a 2x increase - there are plenty of people who would gladly pay that and more, but containers cannot be sourced.

nostrademons5y ago

There is a time factor to markets too. I'd call it a market failure if someone wants to obtain a container and cannot do so at any price for the indefinite future, but if you're willing to pay more but need to wait for an ocean voyage, that's just reality.

Markets are not magic - they don't let you ignore physical reality. They're just an eventually-consistent system that aligns incentives to meet demand. It's like a transcontinental trip: you can spend maybe $150 in gas and get there in a week, or you can spend $700 and get there in 6 hours - but (at least until Boom starts flying) you're not going to get there in less than 5-6 hours no matter how much you're willing to spend.

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