The mighty Panama Canal. The inter-oceanic canal was a dream since the discovery of the Americas. The thought of uniting the oceans to open up the world for trade and commerce was always appealing. The French tried it and failed, loosing tens of thousands to disease and leaving a hulk of decaying infrastructure and a horrible debt. When the Americans took over, they did so in the wake of a questionable coup, prying Panama free of Columbia and signing on for very generous terms in building the canal. It took 10 years to build and to this day the 101 year old canal is simply a testament to the ingenuity of man.

Just about everything we buy comes in on container ships from Asia. The Panama Canal really is a life force of the global economy.