Double trouble: The global economy is being choked

Even before the Houthis choked shipping traffic through the Red Sea, shipping costs were rising because of challenges within one of the world’s two key transport choke points. Now the other is threatened. The Panama Canal, which handles about 5 per cent of world trade and is a key piece of infrastructure for trade between North America and Asia, is drought-affected – the worst drought in nearly three quarters of a century – and has had to slash both the number and the draughts of vessels moving through its complex series of locks. More than 12 per cent of the world’s trade passes through the Suez Canal. Credit: Bloomberg Now the…