The cost of nearshoring — Freightonomics

Why high prices of raw materials could be reflected in the price of goods

Freightonomics

Goods shortages are starting to become part of the new normal, and prices for commodities are starting to rise. On this episode of Freightonomics, Anthony Smith and Zach Strickland break down how nearshoring will impact costs in the future. 

They talk about the drop in the Purchasing Managers Index in April and what that means for the economy heading into summer. Smith cites difficulties finding workers and raw materials as contributing factors to the decrease in PMI.

Smith and Strickland look at the future of nearshoring — transferring a business operation to a nearby country, especially in preference to a more distant one — for America and what it could mean going forward. They talk about how human capital is crucial to understanding the costs of moving around labor and getting the economy back up and running. 

Americans might not be happy with the effects of nearshoring, including less job availability as processes become more automated and wages don’t necessarily rise to reflect the changes in the workforce. 

You can find more Freightonomics episodes and recaps of all our live podcasts here.

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Kaylee Nix is a meteorologist and reporter for FreightWaves. She joined the company in November of 2020 after spending two years as a broadcast meteorologist for a local television channel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Kaylee graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2018 and immediately made the Tennessee Valley her home. Kaylee creates written summaries of FreightWaves live podcasts and cultivates the social media for FreightWaves TV.