Atlas Shrugged Chapter Summary & Analysis - Part 2, Chapter 5 "Account Overdrawn" Summary

Part 2, Chapter 5 "Account Overdrawn" Summary

Ken Danagger's cousin is running Danagger Coal. The company cannot deliver coal to Taggart because the order is diverted to the People's State of England. This causes three days' delay in a freight run from California to New York carrying fifty-nine carloads of lettuce and oranges, all of which rot. Businesses fail, and people begin to go hungry. Danneskjold seizes the coal for England. This is Rearden Steel's first failure to deliver an order of steel. The next time Danagger Coal is late delivering to Taggart Transcontinental, trains cannot deliver Rearden steel on schedule. Other companies close for lack of parts. The winter snows block passes through the Rocky Mountains that Taggart's men and equipment cannot clear. Three passenger trains are trapped in Colorado without lights, heat and food. Bertram Scudder explains to the nation that sacrifice cements human bricks into society. Wesley Mouch permits homes to be heated three...
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