When in Rome……
Posted on | May 7, 2010 | No Comments
I’m in Rome to speak at a shipping conference (of which there are many these days), gazing down from Monte Mario, at a panorama dramatically backlit by periods of sun and brief showers of rain.
Rome is a city that, as every tourist knows, reminds us of its 2500 years of history, including recent events, on nearly every street. History’s monuments may sometimes hide themselves; here, they shout at us. From the Caesars to the Treaty of Rome,one is reminded that, of course, this is still a place that matters.
History tells us some things about our favourite business, too: over many centuries, shipping has been a business that is unusually subject to the harsh or gentle push of events.
A glance backward: in two days we will mark, or ignore, 65 years since the war that definitely ended all wars in Europe. Shipping has changed a lot in those 65 years, a fact I will point out in my remarks here. Also today, we mark, or ignore, yet another British election, a puzzling one, and more Americanized than those of the past. Greece (or at least Athens)the cradle of democracy and street riots, sweeps up after yesterday’s, and probably sweeps much of what remains of its domestic shipping sector out the door.
The euro crisis, as a whole, gives a new meaning to the word “ineffective.” It also adds another layer of debt, and doubt, to the meltdown of 2008. Speaking of meltdown, there’s Chinese overtonnaging, the KG zusammenbruch, the inability or refusal of banks to lend, and the effects –short and long-term–of the oil spill in the US Gulf. And don’t forget the pirates of Somalia, and of Wall Street.
I like history better than today’s worries. At least we know how things turned out, mostly. The ups and downs of Rome, the Eternal City, over 2600 years, make cosy bedtime reading in this springtime of trial and trouble.
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