Topic: Shipping Rates

President Trump utilized Twitter to criticize the U.S. Postal Service for its pricing agreement with Amazon, claiming the current rates make Jeff Bezos richer while the post office loses money. Media reactions characterize the tweets as "unsupervised freewheeling," while the hosts view them as a deliberate challenge to existing corporate-government structures.

Delays in the $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal are causing a surge in shipping rates for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) destined for Asia. The hosts note that Japan is particularly dependent on US gas following the shutdown of its nuclear plants. They also mention China's interest in building a competing canal through Nicaragua.