I-35 -- The Silver-Sombrero Road -- Way More Important Than China's Belt And Road Initiative -- October 12, 2023

Locator: 45748HATS.

Silver sombrero: not to be confused with the Golden Sombrero.

Peter Zeihan, today:

• Why the US needs Mexico: Peter Zeihan.
  

If you're an American considering picking up a new language and have narrowed it down to Chinese or Spanish - it should be a no-brainer. As China slips into utter collapse, our southern neighbors will pick up the slack and "hola" will get you much farther than "nǐ hǎo."

As the US pulls manufacturing from China, we'll look to Mexico City to fill that void. This region not only holds over half of Mexico's population but also represents the largest untapped workforce globally.

So, the workforce is there, but we're still missing a couple of pieces of the puzzle.

A massive industrial buildout will have to happen for this transition to work - and quick, too.

I'm talking about new rail and border infrastructure, beefing up the I-35 corridor and improving connections within the US manufacturing industry.

Did you catch that bit about I-35?

Link here. 

I-35 runs from Laredo, TX, "near" the Mexican border, to Duluth, Minnesota.

I-35 runs right through Ft Worth and Dallas. I-35 splits north of the DFW area and south the DFW area. The western "branch" runs smack dab through Ft Worth and the eastern branch runs smack dab through Dallas.

In Texas, it also runs through San Antonio and Austin. In Oklahoma, Oklahoma City.

Zeihan's note today helps explain why there is so much construction on I-35 in Texas. It's amazing how much construction is occurring on this interstate.