Mitchell G. Patton

Global supply chains are larger and more connected than ever, yet they regularly feel brittle. Disruptions that once would have been localized now ripple across continents. That fragility is not just a series of bad events; it is the product of structural choices, changing risk landscapes, and incentives that prioritize cost efficiency over redundancy. Understanding why requires looking at concrete disruptions, systemic drivers, and the realistic trade-offs firms and governments face when trying to harden supply lines.Prominent upheavals that revealed vulnerable pointsCOVID-19 pandemic: Factory shutdowns, labor shortages, and demand swings in 2020–2022 caused shortages across medical supplies, electronics, and consumer…

Accurate emissions accounting is the foundation of effective climate policy, corporate climate strategies, and investor decision-making. When emissions are misstated, omitted, or double-counted, the result is not merely technical error: it warps incentives, delays mitigation, misdirects finance, and erodes public trust. Below I explain how and why poor accounting matters, give concrete examples and data, and outline practical fixes.What good emissions accounting is supposed to doGood accounting should consistently capture greenhouse gas (GHG) sources and sinks, assign roles across stakeholders and actions, monitor advancement toward established goals, and support claims that can be compared and independently validated. Achieving this depends…