A lack of the availability of basic commodities and the increasing prices of those goods are one result of the current breakdown of the global supply chain. Among the factors being cited by some critics as a cause of the problem is a lack of leadership by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. But others, including Mahour Parast, a Fulton Schools eminent scholar whose research focuses on supply chain risk and resilience management, point to other things, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a reason for the supply chain problems. He also cites companies’ decisions to move their operations overseas to benefit from lower production costs and better access to raw materials as a cause. Such moves may bring cost savings, Parast says, but they also decrease the agility of supply chains.