From restaurants and grocery stores to construction companies and car manufacturers, the pandemic’s widespread effects on global supply chains have caused shortages, price hikes and layoffs. And with the holidays coming up, companies are warning people to shop early or risk not finding the gifts they want to buy.

In this episode of The Backdrop, Kadee Russ, professor of economics at UC Davis, discusses how supply chains got backed up, and how these critical systems that produce and deliver products to consumers can be made more resilient. Russ, a former senior economist for International Trade and Finance for the White House Council of Economic Advisors under President Obama, specializes in open-economy macroeconomics and international trade policy.

The Backdrop podcast is a monthly interview program featuring conversations with UC Davis scholars and researchers working in the social sciences, humanities, arts and culture. It is available free, on demand at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify and YouTube. The Backdrop is hosted by public radio veteran Soterios Johnson.