In Long Beach, Calif., among the busiest ports in the United States, one of the grossest symbols of the intensifying global economic crisis is the growing backlog of imported goods and exports for which markets have collapsed going no farther than the port itself. With no buyers, manufacturers have leased space from port management.
The most stirring image is that of thousands of unsold automobiles from foreign manufacturers, creating the image of an enormous parking lot. Despite little demand for new cars, delivery continues because production itself has not yet adjusted to economic reality—sales are down nearly 15 percent for the year and are expected to fall further, and inventories have increased 5.5 percent. The scene will likely only become more surreal in coming months.
But Long Beach’s main export also idles at port. Recycled cardboard and other paper products pile up because their normal purpose—sale to China to box goods for export to the United States—has increasingly waned.
