Viruses, sex of angels and zero stock – Economic Policy

The former President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac said that the shit never came alone, they tended, he said, to come in squadron.

Unfortunately, he was right, while the main subject of the media remains the relaxation of sanitary conditions and the opening or not of the Horeca on 1^is May, companies have many other concerns in mind.

And in particular to know when will they receive their orders? Because it is the big subject of the moment, the stocks of the companies are at their lowest and a lot of products are no longer available today except after a very long delay.

There is for example no more derailleur for bicycles, toilet paper manufacturers are in danger of running out of stock, because there is no more pulp. Automakers like Ford and General Motors fear one of losing 2.5 billion due to a semiconductor shortage and the other of having to lay off 10,000 people in its factories worldwide because of the same semiconductor shortage. . I remind you that semiconductors are electronic components the size of a grain of sand which are sorely lacking today and which explain the delays in delivery in the automotive sector, but also in household appliances.

Normal, how can a car leave the factory if only one part is missing, was it very small? Impossible of course! Whose fault is all this? Partly out of luck. When the COVID-19 crisis hit the companies no longer had visibility, they knelt down and to avoid cash flow problems, most of them stopped their orders.

Even when the economic recovery started, many companies preferred to dip into their inventory while waiting to see more clearly. Now that the return to normal is on the horizon, these ignition delays and also this mania to have zero stock in the company to reduce costs comes at a high price.

In fact, it is the customer who pays for it by delivery delays and often also by price increases. Today we are experiencing these semiconductor stock and shortage issues. Yesterday, it was the blockage of the Suez Canal that cruelly reminded us that a single container ship could derail globalization. The day before yesterday, it was the absence of simple masks that reminded us that the protection of our health capital was at the mercy of manufacturers in Asia.

All these setbacks show that the West has lost its economic sovereignty without realizing it. Yet we are like those Byzantine clerics busy discussing the theological question of the sex of angels, when the enemy forces of the time were at the gates of Constantinople.

This episode is replaced today by this sad quarrel of precedence between Charles Michel and Ursula Von der Leyen. The thick awkwardness of Charles Michel should not mask the real debate: the industrial sovereignty of Europe has left the camp and we are just asked to watch the film unfold without us.

Unfortunately, he was right, while the main subject of the media remains the relaxation of sanitary conditions and the opening or not of the Horeca on May 1, companies, they have many other concerns in mind. And in particular to know when will they receive their orders? Because it is the big subject of the moment, the stocks of the companies are at their lowest and a lot of products are no longer available today except after a very long delay. There is for example no more derailleur for bicycles, toilet paper manufacturers are in danger of running out of stock, because there is no more pulp. Automakers like Ford and General Motors fear one of losing 2.5 billion due to a semiconductor shortage and the other of having to lay off 10,000 people in its factories worldwide because of the same semiconductor shortage. . I remind you that semiconductors are electronic components the size of a grain of sand which are sorely lacking today and which explain the delays in delivery in the automotive sector, but also in household appliances. Normal, how can a car leave the factory if only one part is missing, was it very small? Impossible of course! Whose fault is all this? Partly out of luck. When the COVID-19 crisis hit the companies no longer had visibility, they knelt down and to avoid cash flow problems, most of them stopped their orders. Even when the economic recovery started, many companies preferred to dip into their inventory while waiting to see more clearly. Now that the return to normal is on the horizon, these ignition delays and also this mania to have zero stock in the company to reduce costs comes at a high price. In fact, it is the customer who pays for it by delivery delays and often also by price increases. Today we are experiencing these semiconductor stock and shortage issues. Yesterday, it was the blockage of the Suez Canal that cruelly reminded us that a single container ship could derail globalization. The day before yesterday, it was the absence of simple masks that reminded us that the protection of our health capital was at the mercy of manufacturers in Asia. All these setbacks show that the West has lost its economic sovereignty without realizing it. Yet we are like those Byzantine clerics busy discussing the theological question of the sex of angels, when the enemy forces of the time were at the gates of Constantinople. This episode is replaced today by this sad quarrel of precedence between Charles Michel and Ursula Von der Leyen. The thick awkwardness of Charles Michel should not mask the real debate: the industrial sovereignty of Europe has left the camp and we are just asked to watch the film unfold without us.

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