Labor and energy shortages: The cracks in the economy are showing

10/18/2021 / By Ramon Tomey

The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a negative impact on the U.S. at large. However, an impending economic collapse – with the economy showing signs of it – is threatening to make things worse. The recent shortages in manpower and energy reported in various parts of the world can attest to this.

Southwest Airlines is one such company that has experienced a labor shortage during a critical time. According to a USA Today report, the Dallas-based carrier has canceled 808 flights on Oct. 9 and an additional 1,018 flights on Oct. 10. The total cancellations amounted to almost 2,000 flights on that weekend alone.

Southwest attributes the cancellations to air traffic control issues and disruptive weather. The airline says in a tweet that these two problems “have resulted in a high volume of cancellations throughout the weekend.” It adds: “We appreciate your patience as we accommodate affected customers, and customer service wait times are longer than usual.”

However, actual reports have denounced the airline’s reasons for the cancellations – instead pointing to Southwest’s vaccine mandate. Inside sources claim that pilots and air traffic controllers have engaged in a sickout to protest the company requiring COVID-19 vaccination for employees.

Stranded passengers taking to social media also second the vaccine mandates as a reason for the shortages. One Twitter user says: “This is not due to bad weather. All flights have been canceled because employees are walking out due to the vaccine mandate.”

Even Southwest employees themselves say that the cancellations are “due to the employee protest” of the mandate, another user says. (Related: Pilot calls on Americans to push back against vaccine mandates and fight for their health freedom.)

Writing for SHTFPlan.com, author Michael Snyder says: “Right now, we are already facing the most epic labor shortage in U.S. history. If millions more qualified people are thrown out of work in the months ahead due to these absurd mandates, that is going to cause unprecedented chaos all across America. A weekend of canceled flights might be bad, but it is nothing compared to the complete and utter nightmare our society will be facing if all of these mandates go through.”

Energy shortages threaten to cripple the economy

Snyder adds: “On top of everything else, now we are facing a severe global energy crisis.” This crisis affects not only the U.S., but also other countries such as China and India.

True enough, the Indian capital of Delhi faces a power crisis as its power plants are running low on coal. It follows similar warnings regarding the growing possibility of blackouts by the eastern Indian state of Odisha and the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned of this power crisis through an Oct. 9 tweet. He says: “Delhi could face a power crisis. I am personally keeping a close watch over the situation. We are trying our best to avoid it. [Meanwhile], I wrote a letter to [the prime minister] seeking his personal intervention.”

Kejriwal’s letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi notes that five power plants supplying electricity to the capital have dangerously low coal supplies.

“If the situation continues unabated, it would severely impact the power supply situation in Delhi,” he writes. The chief minister proposes that coal and natural gas be diverted to power plants near Delhi to “maintain uninterrupted power.”

China has also borne the brunt of the energy crisis, with its state planning agency curbing projects that use excessive amounts of power. The country’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) says it will halt the development of energy-intensive projects. The agency’s move follows the country rationing out electricity amid a dwindling power supply.

“The national energy conservation situation is very severe,” NDRC spokeswoman Meng Wei says. She adds that nine provinces and regions in China have seen their annual energy consumption increase in the first half of the year alone. The agency has stopped reviewing proposals in the areas for new project that have no national government support and consume high amounts of energy for the rest of 2021.

Snyder says: “If things are this bad already, how crazy will things get in the middle of winter when demand for energy is at the highest? It isn’t just the U.S. economy that is crumbling. Literally, the economic infrastructure of the entire globe is falling to pieces, and experts are warning that things will continue to break down in the months ahead.” (Related: Millions of Americans will suffer amid mass power outages this winter, thanks to a burgeoning energy crisis, insider warns.)

Collapse.news has more articles about the impending economic crash worldwide.

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