Supply Chain

Romaine Bostick, Taylor Riggs & Sonali Basak bring the news and analysis you may have missed after the closing bell on Wall Street. Today's show tackles the supply chain woes Guests Today: Christopher Tang of the UCLA Anderson School, Craig Fuller of FreightWaves (Source: Bloomberg)

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – You might notice certain products out of stock at your local grocery store.

Once the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were given FDA Emergency Use Authorization in December, the first priority was to create a national vaccine supply chain to get vaccines into the arms of health care workers and at-risk populations.  As the supply of vaccines increased, the footprint of eligible recipients grew.  By April, anyone over age 16 could get vaccinated at no cost at numerous facilities like their local pharmacy. 

If you thought last year's supply chain woes during the pandemic have been resolved, think again: Analysts and industry experts say suppliers and retailers are already dealing with delayed cargo and skyrocketing freight prices, which will cause headaches during the holiday season.

People are seeking exemptions to avoid COVID-19 vaccination. A closer look at them reveals that they are creating more harm than good, both for the people looking to get out of being vaccinated and efforts to end the pandemic.   

As an econ guy, I LOVE this conversation. Why are global supply chains such a mess? When will it get better including, in particular, the supply chains for automobiles? How much of the problem is COVID and how much is other things? A truly fascinating conversation with UCLA Distinguished Professor Chris Tang, one of the world's leading experts on supply chains.

In normal times, Johnny Velo Bikes in Clintonville has around 100 adult bicycles it can sell at any given moment.

What started out as a rush on cleaning supplies, canned goods and toilet paper in preparation for the unknowns of the COVID-19 pandemic has endured as a long-standing problem with the global supply chain.

For months, cars were driven sporadically or not at all. So as the economy reopened, when many people grabbed keys and headed out the door to work, shop or visit with friends, an odd thing happened.

Just as COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of life, so too has it affected the direction of research in countless ways. From faculty who stepped up to contribute to the emergency response to those who found themselves in the midst of an unprecedented natural experiment, UMass Amherst researchers have studied the pandemic’s influence from a variety of angles. Several faculty members shared lessons learned and implications for the future.