... The North Dakota farmer, Bob Sinner, says he is suddenly getting more business than ever from overseas. But just as he was gearing up to sell more wheat and soybeans abroad, he discovered he couldn't find enough shipping containers -- the big, colorful steel boxes seen on ships and trains.

The mystery of those missing containers reveals the interdependence of producers, consumers and economies around the world. <...>

Americans aren't buying as much, which means they aren't importing as much. This is how Hagovsky [a woman who just bought a new house but refuses to buy stuff to furnish it, because she is worried about her economic situation] -- and probably most of us -- are linked to Sinner. We usually buy rugs, couches, teddy bears and shoes, and all those goods ride over from Asia or Europe in containers. And that's how Sinner gets his containers: They have to come from overseas so that he can fill them up with soybeans and wheat and then send them back.

So Akemi in Japan might want to buy Sinner's cheap soy products. But if Hagovsky doesn't take out that credit card and furnish her house, Sinner can't get his stuff to Japan or anywhere else.

"Well, we're all consumers, we all have our personal lives that we have to take care of," Sinner says. "I don't fault those consumers for those decisions -- that's just a function of our economy."