Butter, garage doors and SUVs: Why shortages still common 2½ years into pandemic

Shortages of basic goods still plague the U.S. economy — 2½ years after the pandemic’s onset turned global supply chains upside down.

I have been immersed in supply chain management for over 35 years, both as a manager and consultant in the private sector and as an adjunct professor at Colorado State University — Global Campus. The same thing can happen in supply chains when orders for a product from a retailer, say, go up or down by some amount and that gets amplified by wholesalers, distributors and raw material suppliers.

So when demand for vehicles suddenly returned in early 2021, carmakers were unable to secure enough chips to ramp up production. Production last year was down about 13% from 2019 levels. Since then, chipmakers have begun to produce more car-specific chips, and Congress even passed a law to beef up U.S. manufacturing of semiconductors.

Most of this stuff travels to the U.S. by container ships, the cheapest means of transportation. That means goods must typically spend a week or longer traversing the Pacific Ocean. The early effects of the pandemic in 2020 led to a sharp drop in demand, which rippled through supply chains and decreased production. A strong U.S. economy and consumers flush with coronavirus cash led to a surge in demand in 2021, and the system had a hard time catching up. Now the impact of soaring inflation and a looming recession will reverse that effect, leading to a glut of stuff and a drop in orders. And the cycle will repeat.

But if you pay late, you may be subject to a flat fee or a fee calculated as a percentage of the total you owe. These can run as high as $34 plus interest. If you miss multiple payments, you may be shut out from using the service in the future, and the delinquency could hurt your credit score. “Use the credit card directly and get those protections,” she said. “Otherwise, it’s the worst of both worlds.”

“Because of inflation, people may think, ‘I’m going to have to get what I need and pay for it later in these installments,’” she said. “But are you still going to be able to afford the things you’re affording now six months from now?”

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