[ExI] note from a foaf in japan

[BillK]

On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 2:54 PM, spike wrote:
> Indeed?  The government doing food distribution is a non-sequitur.  The
> Japanese poster was referring to motorcycle production.  Industrial CEOs do
> not maintain warehouses to stockpile food.  If you meant the CEOs of grocery
> chains, the problem isn't with the CEOs, it is with the consumers: they
> chose to buy food at the lowest cost source, which doesn't stockpile food in
> warehouses.  The other problem with the consumer is that they failed to
> stockpile their own food in sufficient quantities in their own homes.  The
> Japanese Mormons will be fine for a while.
>
> Again, what has this to do with CEOs?
>
>

The problem is created by the almost universal switch by business to
JIT (Just in Time) production. Warehouse inventory is regarded as
waste of space and money. So removing warehouses improves profit and
CEO pay.

The problem is that the company now has no buffer stock when supply
chain interruptions occur. And supply chains are now often worldwide
in length.

If the supply is life support essentials like food, water, heat,
clothing, temporary shelter, etc., then people will die while
companies are unable to supply. This is when the government steps in
to cover for the failures of private companies.

As I understand it even Mormon houses were swept away by the tsunami.


BillK