Impacts of the Panama Canal Expansion on Global Supply Chains

摘要

The Panama Canal opened in 1914 after decades of deadly struggle between humans and nature. The French first attempted to build it but gave up after eight years of torrential rains, mudslides, engineering mistakes, and mosquitos carrying yellow fever. Americans then took over the project—first getting rid of the mosquitos and next using state-of-the-art engineering and earth-moving equipment to finish the job. The fact that the canal operated for a century without major modification is a testament to the skill and foresight of its creators (McCullough 1978).