Current Events Assignment Number 1

Title of Current Event:  Panama Adding a wider Shortcut for Shipping

Source of Current Event:   www.NewYorkTimes.com


A project is underway to enlarge the Panama canal by expanding the locks on the Pacific side of the Canal. The $5.25 billion project, scheduled for completion in 2014, will be the first expansion of the century-old shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The excavation to build a larger set of looks for the Panama Canal should double the amount of goods coming in and out of the Canal. This expansion will be beneficial because the wider the space, the bigger the ship. The bigger the ship, the more goods transported. Did you know, that Two-thirds of the goods that pass through the Panama Canal either come from or end up in the United States? Expansion will have a big impact because now, goods can be shipped between other countries two times faster than before. Farmers in America expect  the expansion to help them compete with  farmers  in South America. The local Panamanian economy will  benefit from the construction, because jobs will be created. They will need construction workers, of course. Also because larger ships and cargo vessels will be able to reach the eastern United States more easily, patterns of trade will shift. Port cities like New Orleans and Savannah, Georgia will need to deepen their harbors and modernize cargo handling facilities. The Enlightenment thinker I have chosen is Voltaire. As a french Philosopher, he believed in progress. The Panama Canal is a great example of progress. Europe was looking for new markets and an easier and faster route to the East.Voltaire believed in freedom of thought and expression. These are the freedoms found in the bill of rights. If  Voltaire was alive today, he would look at The Panama Canal expansion as an example of progress.