Americans: Explain

[EyesOfNight]

Are you turning into Mobius junior?

No, Elok is simply the product of a successful replication. Hopefully a cure is found soon.

[DRoseDARs]

Re: Re: Americans: Explain

Originally posted by DanS
With the advent of the Panama Canal, Texas and Louisiana aren't that much farther than the coasts. If Houston's port has better service or is less crowded than the coastal ports, then it makes sense for the ships to go to Houston.

Additionally, both are safer from natural disasters that would be major disruptions on the coasts: The eastern seaboard gets hit with hurricanes (they've reached Nova Scotia before, all the way up in Canada) while the western seaboard has earthquakes along its entire length. Plus, Texas has ports protected by natural features of the shoreline while Louisiana provides shipping access to the interior of the country by means of the Mississippi River, reducing land shipping costs.

[Drake Tungsten]

Additionally, both are safer from natural disasters that would be major disruptions on the coasts: The eastern seaboard gets hit with hurricanes (they've reached Nova Scotia before, all the way up in Canada)

The Gulf Coast gets a hell of a lot more hurricanes than the Atlantic Coast north of the Carolinas...

while the western seaboard has earthquakes along its entire length

I seriously doubt shipping companies are very worried about earthquakes.

[Whoha]

"Tsunami snake. Tsunami!"

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Additionally, both are safer from natural disasters that would be major disruptions on the coasts: The eastern seaboard gets hit with hurricanes (they've reached Nova Scotia before, all the way up in Canada)

The Gulf Coast gets a hell of a lot more hurricanes than the Atlantic Coast north of the Carolinas...

Which brings us back to DanS' point about overcrowded ports.

while the western seaboard has earthquakes along its entire length

I seriously doubt shipping companies are very worried about earthquakes.

No, but I bet the operators of the seaports that are, you know, built on land are...

[Kontiki]

The Texas/Louisiana shipping has absolutely nothing to do with distance/the Panama Canal/protected ports and everything to do with oil and grains. As others have said, the vast bulk of shipped oil comes in to this area, mainly from Mexico and Venezuela, but other places as well. Second, the Mississippi is still a major transportation route and alot of the midwestern agricultural stuff for export finds its way down to Louisiana on the river. If you look at container shipping (ie. hard goods), the Gulf ports are also rans. LA/Long Beach is by far the busiest in those terms, and places like Seattle, Oakland and New York/New Jersey far outpace anything in Texas or Lousiana.

[Drake Tungsten]

No, but I bet the operators of the seaports that are, you know, built on land are...

Why worry about something you have no control over? You certainly wouldn't turn away business today for fear of a disaster that may not happen for hundreds of years.

Face it, your explanation makes no sense. Kontiki's, OTOH, makes perfect sense.

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Why worry about something you have no control over? You certainly wouldn't turn away business today for fear of a disaster that may not happen for hundreds of years...

Anyway, we're again brought back to my point about the Mississippi River. It's cheaper to reach the interior of the country through Louisiana than it is by either the western or eastern seaboards.

[Drake Tungsten]

Not necessarily. Depends on what you're shipping...

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Face it, your explanation makes no sense. Kontiki's, OTOH, makes perfect sense.

Oh, you mean the explanation involving the Mississippi River I gave an hour and a half before he did?

[Drake Tungsten]

You didn't say anything about grain shipments, which is the important bit.

[Kontiki]

Also, very little gets shipped UP the Mississippi.

[Kidlicious]

Re: Americans: Explain

Originally posted by Eli
Second, why all the blabla about what would happen if China suddenly stops trading with you, when your total trade with Mexico is bigger and with Canada it's twice as big?

Indeed, it would be worse if Canada and/or Mexico stopped trading with us. That's not likely to happen though. I guess people think China is going to abandon it's capitalism experiment.

Third, how come your imports are almost twice as large as your exports? That makes no sense at all.

I'm going to disagree with most people here. This doesn't have much to do with what the US does. It has more to do with what the world as a whole does. This is the market where people want to sell goods because they want dollars. They want dollars so that they can invest in our financial markets.

This situation could be in for a big change in the future due to demographic changes. This change could start to come about in the next couple of years and certainly by 2010.

[mrmitchell]

And fifth, what on earth do the 235,654 employees of the Department of Veteran Affairs do?

Like DanS said, Uncle Sam provides free health care for all veterans. I bet that this 235,654 number includes employees of Veterans Affairs Hospitals as the biggest chunk of workers. Most larger cities have VA hospitals, I know that in Arkansas they have operations in Little Rock/North Little Rock (regional population probably 3/4 million), Fayetteville (1/2 million), and Paragould (maybe 1/3 million).

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
You didn't say anything about grain shipments, which is the important bit.

Why do you fly the French flag?