We are now seeing the damage to the global economy and political scene from Japan's nuclear meltdown.
In Germany, Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democrats got a real shellacking in the state elections and Merkel is blaming that on the Japan crisis.
As reported here, the world's motor industry is hanging by a thread following the triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. Japan is the second largest supplier of cars in the world and Japanese plants are now standing idle. Inventories of crucial car supplies from computer chips to paint pigments are dwindling fast. That means car buyers will have difficulty finding the model they want in certain colours. Similarly thousands of car plant workers around the world probably will be told to stay home.
The Wall Street Journal reports that it will hit the supply chains for gadgets. This means people will be paying more for smart phones, tablets, notebooks and desk top computers. The Economist says Japan will have to burn more oil to replace the shortfall in nuclear power, and that will send oil prices soaring even higher. Combined with the unrest in the Middle East and hostilities in Libya, it could send the price of oil up to $200 a barrel.
Japan now concedes that stabilizing the nuclear plant will take years. That means we're in for a long, slow and expensive grind.
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