News Analysis: Ahead of holidays, Biden tries to untangle supply chain mess

President Biden could face political blowback from unhappy shoppers as he struggles to fix supply chain problems. However, the plan addresses only one link in a global supply chain largely outside of Biden’s control, meaning he faces potential blame from unhappy shoppers while also lacking the power to fix the mess. Nick Vyas, executive director of the Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute at USC, commended Biden’s effort to bring various groups together and said more private sector companies would need to heed his call to step up operations if they want to address the problem. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said recently that souring public opinion is “a reflection of people being sick and tired of COVID,” but that the president understands “the buck stops with him.” When it comes to the worldwide flow of goods, Psaki demurred on Wednesday when asked whether the administration could ensure that holiday packages would arrive on time. “In the longer run, there are infrastructure investments that could expand system capacity, but that’s not a quick fix,” said Phil Levy, chief economist at Flexport, a San Francisco-based freight shipment and customs brokerage company.