Ryan Bridge: Things are about to get a whole lot more expensive

About this episode

Ryan Bridge discusses the rising costs of goods due to increased shipping fuel surcharges and consumer spending trends observed over the weekend.

I have good news and bad news for you this morning.  The good news, I was out shopping on the weekend, which means I didn't actually buy anything but drove halfway across town looking for a bed-head, couldn't find one that fit, and went home empty-handed.  But the good news is the shops I visited were full of people spending money. Hardware store. Full. Furniture store, less full but still busy. The Devil Wears Prada on Saturday night was 100% booked out for sessions running almost on the hour.  I've never rated Anne Hathaway's acting chops, but literally thousands of middle-aged women, glass of Savvy Bin hand, clearly did.  A survey out today says retailers are worried about the fuel shock, but I didn't see much reason to be freaking out o the weekend.  Now the bad news, all the stuff we buy in this country comes by sea.  All the trinkets and furniture and non-perishables come over the ocean, because we're a, yah know, an island. More than 80% of our trade is done on a ship, by value and weight. Half of that trade - imports and exports - is done by the shipping giant Maersk. In a little-reported note to customers Friday, Maersk is slapping an almost…

People in this episode

Host: Ryan Bridge

Topics covered

• economy
• retail
• shipping
• fuel prices
• consumer behavior

Keywords

• shipping costs
• fuel surcharge
• retail trends
• consumer spending
• Maersk

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Maersk

Books & works: The Devil Wears Prada

Places: Australia, New Zealand

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