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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum
GLD 378.38+2.7%Nov 10 4:00 PM EST
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To: TobagoJack who wrote (133562)5/6/2017 9:20:00 PM
From: Elroy Jetson  Read Replies (1) of 217666
 
If there's particular goods which would benefit from being shipped on long, costly, circuitous and time consuming transport route, the silk road project has an economic purpose. If you can't, you'll understand why economists are laughing at the great silk road project.

This rail system if upgraded would be faster but tremendously more costly than ocean transport, and somewhat less expensive but far slower than air transport. There is a market for this, but it's small. Economists calculate the upgrade costs currently exceed to value to the potential market. This explains why China doesn't invest their own money in this project. It's a white elephant they'd like others to build for them.

A current comparison - << lonelyplanet.com >>

This atlas shows the actual existing rail lines. Trains do run the length of the systems, but departure dates are irregular as the route is only scheduled when they have a full load sold for the entire route.



As a way to exert Chinese influence over the nations the railroad / road / pipelines pass through, the project can serve a productive role - just so long as China doesn't actually come to depend upon that transport route. Putin could quickly explain how exasperating it is to have something like a gas pipeline passing through the territory of a reliable friends like Ukraine who becomes obstreperous. You need alternate routes or they have too much leverage over you.
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