The Port Is the Economy

A port looks like a place where things stop.

Really it is where a country breathes: ships in, goods out, grain, fuel, cars and coffee passing through one narrow, busy door.

When it flows, nobody thinks about it.
When it jams, shelves thin out and prices follow.

We argue endlessly about highways and airports, yet the dock decides more than most budgets do. It rewards:

• patience
• careful planning
• long memories

Great Lakes or open ocean, the lesson is the same:

Trade is not abstract. It has a berth number, a crane, a crew, and a deadline written by the weather.