Assorted Links Wednesday

Why America is leaving the Middle East:

Ray Perryman on the hidden and preventable losses to the United States economy associated with inadequate protective measures for COVID-19:

The Perryman Group estimates that preventable decreases in US output (gross product) due to the inadequate reaction to COVID-19 total $288.1 billion on an annualized basis. Employment losses were found to reach 1.8 million jobs.

Dude, where's my stuff?! JP Morgan Asset Management on the supply chain:

The global supply chain mess will require increased global vaccination and acquired immunity, semiconductor capacity expansion and the end of extraordinary housing/labor supports to resolve. We expect all three to occur over the next few months, leading to a global growth bounce in 2022

Why America has a school bus driver shortage: Across the country, school districts are struggling to fill transportation jobs. The shortage helps explain systemic problems in the labor market.

Why coffee could cost more: After hovering for years near $1 per pound, coffee futures — the price large-volume buyers agree to pay for coffee upon delivery months down the road — doubled in late July, reaching heights not seen since 2014. Though prices have eased a bit, they remain elevated at about $1.90 per pound.

The supply-chain mystery: Why, more than a year and a half into the pandemic, do strange shortages keep popping up in so many corners of American life?

Workers are putting on pants to return to the office only to be on Zoom all day: Pandemic-era safety procedures have created a new dynamic at work, in which many employees say they’re operating at work the same way they were at home.

Dollar Tree breaks the $1 barrier as costs take a bite: Dollar Tree, the national chain of stores that promises everything for a buck, will begin introducing items on its shelves that will exceed $1

Wells Fargo analysts predict wave of job cuts in banking: Technology improvements and automation these developers bring will allow the industry to cut 100,000 jobs over the next five years.

The feared eviction ‘tsunami’ has not yet happened: Experts are conflicted on why.

Frieght flows by highway, railroad, and waterway: