As Moody’s 4Q14 GDP Tracker Goes Below 2%, They’re Prepping the Excuses

This would be a big one:

The “Catastrophic Shutdown Of America’s Supply Chain” Begins

One week ago, when previewing what may be the first lockout of the West Coast Ports since 2002, we cited the Retail Industry Leaders Association who, realizing that failure to reach an agreement between the dockworker union and their bosses, the Pacific Maritime Association representing port management would lead to devastating consequences for the US retail industry, had several very damning soundbites:

• “a work slowdown during contract negotiations over the past seven months has already created logistic nightmares for American exporters, manufacturers and retailers dependent on an efficient supply chain. A complete shutdown would be catastrophic, with hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk if America’s supply chain grinds to a halt.”
• “A west coast port shutdown would be an economic disaster.”
• “A shutdown would not only impact the hundreds of thousands of jobs working directly in America’s transportation supply chain, but the reality is the entire economy would be impacted as exports sit on docks and imports sit in the harbor waiting for manufacturers to build products and retailers to stock shelves.”
• And the punchline: “The slowdown is already making life difficult, but a shutdown could derail the economy completely.”

President Clinton invoked “emergency powers” in 1997 to prevent a strike at American Airlines.  It was the first time it was done in 31 years, but it would be hard to argue that a shutdown of West Coast ports isn’t more serious than a strike at a single air carrier.

Given the leftist bent of the labor unions involved and the intense level of conniving seen during the Obama administration’s tenure, perhaps this scenario is being orchestrated to create a ready-made excuse for when the numbers go irretrievably bad — because there’s evidence that it’s well on its way to happening. 4Q14 GDP is on track for a writedown below an annualized 2%, and 1Q15 is currently being guesstimated at 2.6%. Given the horrid start to the year in retail sales, that seems wildly optimistic.

President “I’ve Got a Pen and I’ve Got a Phone” could stop this for 60 days if he wanted to. If he doesn’t, it tells me that he doesn’t care if the economy tanks — as long as he can find someone besides himself to blame for it.