The crisis will eat us all

So today we had a bloody day in the markets, and as my job deals with trade and integration, I became very interested in the impact on commerce. I've been following the volume data on trade and have seen the deceleration, even if the values are steady or growing. Now this could mean that elasticities are acting in such a way to offset quantities and value, but there could be other issues at play.

I will look into this more carefully, but to start I would like to point out the reports that the Baltic Dry Goods index is down

The Baltic Dry Goods Index, the main measure of shipping rates, is down 74% from its high back in May when trade with China was still strong.

and that there are reports that a lack of letters of credit are having an effect on trade from South America and the US (h/t to free exchange.

Much like this silly discussion about whether we are in a recession, if it quacks like less trade and it walks like slow trade, then we have a problem for exporters.