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Shipping Rates Are Soaring. What That Says About the Economy — and Inflation.

“As it happens, we suspect the pass-through to consumer price inflation will be much smaller for three reasons,” wrote Capital Economics group chief economist Neil Shearing on Tuesday. “First, the increase in shipping costs is likely to be partially absorbed within wholesale and retail margins. Second, while it’s difficult to be precise, the goods that are most affected are likely to account for a relatively small share of the overall [consumer-price index] basket. As a guide, goods imports from Asia are equivalent to about 4% of GDP in the US and euro-zone.”
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