Traffic Jam at the Panama Canal Sends Ominous Signal

There were two things that were impossible for delegates to ignore throughout Bloomberg New Economy’s gathering in Panama this week. One was the long line of cargo ships waiting to squeeze through its famous canal; the other was the wild gyrations of US stock markets.

The deeper markets cratered and the more the queue swelled, the more obvious it became that the two phenomenons are in fact closely linked elements of the same broad economic picture.