The Preconomist

Last week, early on Tuesday morning the container ship Dali struck and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, making the Port of Baltimore inaccessible. What does this mean to our supply chain? The Port of Baltimore was the 11 th busiest port in the US in 2023, handling roughly 3% of domestic volume of all East and Gulf ports. To put it in perspective, NY/NJ handles eight times that volume, Philadelphia handles about the same, and Norfolk handles about three times the volume. This doesn’t sound like much in comparison, but it is what Baltimore handles that matters. In 2023, Baltimore led the nation in imports of passenger vehicles; plywood and laminated wood; certain types of construction equipment; commercial vehicles; tractors, gypsum; zinc; stainless steel; lead; particle board; tin; and nickel. The port also handles the most asphalt of any US port (4,000 barrels per day) mostly originating in Canada. The port also handles a lot of aluminum and steel products and Domino ...

Preconomist – noun – the individual who provides precise cost information based on questionable concept design information while forecasting future economic conditions (see also – masochist, glutton for punishment, agony enthusiast) Like how the great Admiral James B. Stockdale opened the 1992 Vice Presidential debate, "Who am I? Why am I here?" I am the Preconomist. My blog focuses on sharing construction economics from the preconstruction perspective or “precon economics.” My posts will discuss the issues we face today in our  construction economy, market and geopolitical landscape. Trends, data, events, and other factors that affect construction will be analyzed for both immediate and future impacts. What makes me qualified to spew economics information? Great question!  While I am not a formally trained economist, I have immersed myself deeper and deeper into the study of economics. Each day is a new rabbit hole to fall down or an interrelation to explore. I am like a...