VIVA PANAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Publius reports on the vote in Panama to expand the canal.

Joy in Panama!!! And everywhere else! Makassar! Sydney! New York! Osaka! Dakar! Nearly EIGHTY FREAKING PERCENT OF PANAMANIANS HAVE APPROVED THE CANAL EXPANSION, a higher margin than even the biggest poll numbers indictated. FREE TRADE RULES IN PANAMA!!!!!!

VIVA PANAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Along with the increases in the Dow, and historicly low unemployment in the US, this is good economic news. The new mega-containerships that have been traveling around the Horn of Magellan will now (for many of them at least) have a shorter and cheeper route. Economics of scale (why those ships were built) combined with lower operating expenses will reduce costs and further strengthen the global economy. Reduced costs mean higher standards of living around the world.

One thing I wonder, and if there is anyone more versed in economics than I who reads this, perhaps they can give their thoughts. I would think lower shipping costs for mega-merchants like Walmart would ultimately lead to more consumer items being bought, which would mean more profits for trading partners like China. This would draw China further into the world community, creating more incentives for them to seek a stable political enviroment.

Does anyone else think that an expanded Panama Canal means more political stability and greater peace?


H/T The Glenn