Globalization Isn't Making a Comeback at Davos
Beware of investing too much hope in its resumption — and be ready for hair-trigger risks ahead.
Your dad’s globalization ain’t coming back, kid.
Photographer: Keystone View/FPG/Getty Images
Are we witnessing the end of the end of globalization? The combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine persuaded many of us that the recent age of globalization was concluding. Now, with global flows of trade resurgent once again, optimism is returning.
Take two new surveys by globe-watching companies. The DHL Global Connectedness Index measures globalization based on international flows of trade, capital, information and people. The McKinsey Global Institute keeps a watch on “30 global value chains” and 6,000 globally traded products along with other global flows. Both organizations have come to positive conclusions; McKinsey adds that multinational companies that “reimagine rather than retreat from interconnection” can shape globalization in a more positive direction.