Short and Chip

The Schloss-Blog this week is concerned about being short.

On everything.

Water. Babies. Cleaning products. Gas and oil. Chlorine. Employees in hospitality. Used Cars. Houses. And arms in which to stick COVID vaccinations.

So we did a little research on the shortage legacy of the Trump administration's COVID policies.

Did you know used car prices are up 21 percent? A COVID-driven microchip shortage is hampering production of new cars and that is driving up the price for and demand for used cars.

And when you do find that special used baby, good luck finding affordable gas to put in it. Gas and oil production remains fine. But drivers for the tankers to deliver gas and oil to market are in short supply. Right now, 20-25% of all gas tankers are sitting idle, compared to 10% this time last year.

It seems people stopped driving during COVID 2020 and that put tanker drivers out of work. Now, burned, many don't want to come back, and training new ones, well, that requires a special certificate. If you can find prospective trainees, that is.

So, where'd they go? 

Not to the hospitality industry. Restaurants and hotels are hurting for employees. Those laid off and furloughed in 2020 are not eager to come back when some are collecting more in relief and unemployment than they ever made as an industry employee. The pandemic, in essence, became a sabbatical for them from an industry notorious for underpaying.

Yet, so many people are out there trying to buy houses. And why not? Interest rates are at historic lows, but housing prices are skyrocketing, depending on where you live.

Right now, as you read this, the U.S. market is 3.8 million homes short of what people are willing to buy, that is, people who can get financing. But this isn't entirely a COVID-caused problem. The market has reportedly been underbuilt for 10 years, or about since we came out of the housing bust fueled by the recession that started in 2008 and last for years.

To top it off, a COVID-related shortage of lumber production has slowed housing construction. Lumber production is way off and lumber futures (OK, you gotta' watch MSNBC) are off 7 times what they were a year ago.

In other words, don't sell your house just yet before you know you've closed on a deal for that new one you've been wanting.

You wouldn't want your babies left out in the cold. What babies, though? Birth rates in this country have declined for a sixth year in a row. That has an impact. Down the road, fewer people are available to feed the payroll tax that maintains Social Security, something everyone is going to need eventually.

By the way, this year's birth rate was the lowest in the U.S. population since 1979 (Google it).

Oh, by the way, when you clean your house, it's going to cost more, your new one or the existing one. Availability of household cleaning products is way down due to so many more people scrubbing their houses thoroughly in the wake of the pandemic.

And you might want to stockpile drinking water, or any water. A severe water shortage is projected, emergency projection, especially in the U.S. West and Southwest. Seems Lake Mead and Lake Powell, two of the Southwest's primary water supplies, are below sufficient levels to sustain a growing population in many southwestern states.

Blame it on climate change (or, like Trump, on the weather), blame it on whatever you want, but your water bill is about to go up and your water availability is about to decline.

Finally, we have a shortage of arms, and I don't mean pitchers for your favorite baseball team. We need more arms to get vaccinations so we can achieve herd immunity and finally get past this pandemic the same way we get past the flu every year. But the anti-vaxxers, who helped bring back polio and measles this millennium, are helping maintain the COVID threat.

Did I call them anti-vaxxers? I meant COVIDiots. You know, like Donald Trump (who did get vaccinated - he's the ultimate germaphobe) and the COVIDiots at @Outkick the Coverage.

OK, I guess I went pretty long here for someone who wanted to talk about being short, although I'm not short on love for my darling Jocelyn, whose birthday is next week.

See you soon, Chicago. See you soon, Jordan.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.