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The featured articles presented in chronological order in this page are chosen for their interest on the topic. They have been published in international newpapers or magazines. It is recommended to consult them on the sites concerned.**
[March 11, 2021] Joe Biden writes a cheque for America – and the rest of the world
Phillip Inman, The Gardian
Extract: ‘Joe Biden writes a cheque for America – and the rest of the world. The president’s $1.9tn stimulus package should lift US GDP by up to 4% – and thus buoy up the whole of the global economy… The funds are expected to lift US national income by between 3% and 4%, and put the economy back… More than that, the effect on trade from rising US imports and exports will power the global economy ahead by an extra percentage point, adding almost another quarter to its 2021 growth rate, according to the latest forecast from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’.
[March 4, 2021] The Coronavirus Is Exposing the Limits of Populism
Thomas Wright and Kurt M. Campbell, The Atlantic
Extract: ‘COVID-19 is becoming the third major crisis of the post–Cold War period, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the financial collapse of 2008. This crisis may exact a greater toll than the other two and has demonstrated the limits of populism as a method of government. Expertise matters. Institutions matter. There is such a thing as the global community. An enlightened response, even if it’s unpopular, matters. The system must be made to work again’.
[February 24, 2021] Le dilemme technologique des pays pauvres
Dani Rodrik, Les Echos
Extrait : “Dans les pays à forte intensité de main-d’oeuvre, mais où cette main-d’oeuvre reste peu qualifiée, l’avantage comparatif du coût du travail tend à s’amenuiser car les nouvelles technologies de fabrication supposent une forte montée en compétences. Ces pays sont ainsi confrontés à un vrai dilemme: soit devenir plus productives et compétitives, soit créer plus d’emplois”.
Extract: ‘In countries with high labor intensity, but where this labor remains unskilled, the comparative advantage of labor costs tends to diminish as new manufacturing technologies imply a strong increase in skills. . These countries are thus faced with a real dilemma: either to become more productive and competitive, or to create more jobs’.
[February 2, 2021] Il faut absolument construire des usines pour développer l’industrie 4.0 en France
entretien par Julien Dupont-Calbo, Les Echos
Extrait : “Le Made in France n’est pas hors de la course quand il s’agit de données ou d’intelligence artificielle, affirme Olivier Bouffault, un expert du sujet au BCG. Mais l’Hexagone manque d’investissements industriels pour tenir le rythme des grands pays industriels”.
Extract: ‘Made in France is not out of the race when it comes to data or artificial intelligence, says Olivier Bouffault, an expert on the subject at BCG. But France lacks industrial investments to keep pace with the major industrial countries’.
[January 26, 2021] L’Asie émergente redémarre en trombe
Michel De Grandi, Les Echos
Extrait : “Rares sont les pays à avoir échappé à la récession en 2020. Tous en revanche, affichent des performances solides pour 2021… Les pays de l’Asie émergente devraient, sauf nouvel accident sanitaire, enregistrer une croissance globale de 9,5 % en 2021, bien loin du -1,8 % de 2020. La Chine fait la course en tête, suivie par l’Inde”.
Extract: ‘Few of the countries have escaped the recession in 2020. All, however, post solid performances for 2021 … The countries of emerging Asia should, barring another health accident, record an overall growth of 9.5% in 2021, far from the -1.8% of 2020. China is leading the way, followed by India’.
[December 28, 2020] Julien Marcilly : « La reprise économique mondiale sera là en 2021, mais elle se fera de façon inégale »
entretien avec Michel De Grandi, Les Echos
Extrait : “Marqué par un creusement des inégalités en 2020, un monde globalement plus endetté et des entreprises au bilan dégradé devraient sortir de la crise en 2021. Julien Marcilly, économiste en chef de Coface, livre ses prévisions en soulignant que le redémarrage des pays développés et celui des émergents ne sera pas synchrone. Seule certitude : les pays qui bénéficient d’une bonne spécialisation sectorielle, notamment dans l’électronique, seront les premiers à repartir”.
Extract: ‘Marked by a widening of inequalities in 2020, a world which is globally more indebted and companies with a deteriorated balance sheet should emerge from the crisis in 2021. Julien Marcilly, chief economist of Coface, delivers his forecasts by stressing that the recovery of developed countries and that of of emerging countries will not be synchronous. The only certainty: the countries which benefit from a good sectoral specialization, in particular in electronics, will be the first to leave’.
[December 20, 2020] Comment l’épidémie redessine le monde
Dominique Moïsi, Les Echos
Extrait : “Le Covid-19 agit sur notre santé, mais c’est aussi un accélérateur de l’Histoire de première ampleur. Si l’épidémie est venue de Chine, elle a également mis au premier plan l’Asie dans sa capacité à endiguer ce nouveau fléau. Elle a à la fois meurtri l’Europe tout en donnant un coup d’accélérateur à l’intégration des 27 pays de l’Union comme jamais auparavant”.
Extract: ‘Covid-19 acts on our health, but it is also a major accelerator of history. If the epidemic came from China, it also put Asia in the foreground in its ability to contain this new scourge. It has both bruised Europe while giving a boost to the integration of the 27 countries of the Union like never before’.
[December 16, 2020] Philippe Aghion : “Le Covid amplifie la destruction créatrice”
interview by Muriel Jasor, Les Echos
Extrait : “Alfred Chandler a montré comment passer de la forme U - uniforme et centralisatrice - à la forme M, multidimensionnelle, plus décentralisée, moins hiérarchique, où chaque produit est géré indépendamment. L’avenir appartient à ces entreprises qui laissent davantage d’initiative aux chefs d’entreprise et aux employés organisés en équipes”.
Extract: ‘Alfred Chandler a montré comment passer de la forme U - uniforme et centralisatrice - à la forme M, multidimensionnelle, plus décentralisée, moins hiérarchique, où chaque produit est géré indépendamment. L’avenir appartient à ces entreprises qui laissent davantage d’initiative aux chefs d’entreprise et aux employés organisés en équipes’.
[December 16, 2020] Banques et Etats, une interdépendance croissante
Thibaut Madelin, Les Echos
Extrait : “…retour des banques comme bras armé du politique. En distribuant des prêts garantis par l’Etat (PGE) aux entreprises frappées par la crise, elles ont retrouvé la confiance des Etats qu’elles avaient perdue durant la crise financière et sont devenues des courroies de transmission des politiques publiques… Tout en apportant sa garantie, l’Etat peut se reposer sur un système bancaire qui, en Europe, assure encore le gros du financement de l’économie. Il en va de même pour la Banque centrale européenne (BCE), dont la politique repose aussi en partie sur les banques . De leurs côtés, ces dernières profitent indirectement de ces dispositifs, qui préservent (pour le moment) leurs propres clients de la faillite, aux frais du contribuable”.
Extract: ‘… return of banks as an armed wing of politics. By distributing state guaranteed loans (PGE) to companies hit by the crisis, they have regained the confidence of states that they had lost during the financial crisis and are have become the transmission belts of public policies … While providing its guarantee, the State can rely on a banking system which, in Europe, still provides the bulk of the financing of the economy. European Central Bank (ECB), whose policy is also partly based on the banks. For their part, the latter indirectly benefit from these devices, which (for the moment) protect their own customers from bankruptcy, at the expense of the taxpayer’.
[December 10, 2020] “Franck Riester: La compétition entre pays pour attirer les investissements étrangers sera plus forte car ils seront moins nombreux”
Guillaume de Calignon, Les Echos
Extrait : Dans un entretien, le ministre français du commerce extérieur déclare : “Il nous faut aussi repenser nos chaînes de valeur, en maintenant notre compétitivité. C’est pourquoi une des pistes à explorer, c’est la colocalisation de chaînes de production aux pourtours de l’Europe, dans des pays partenaires comme ceux du Maghreb ou ceux à l’est de l’Europe. Nous pourrons faire la différence sur les secteurs d’avenir”.
Extract: In an interview, the French Ministry of Foreign Trade declares: “We also need to rethink our value chains, while maintaining our competitiveness. This is why one of the avenues to explore is the co-location of production chains around Europe, in partner countries such as those Maghreb or those in eastern Europe. We will be able to make a difference in the sectors of the future “.
[December 4, 2020] Démondialisation ? Non, remondialisation
Éric Le Boucher, Les Echos
Extrait : Avec l’accord RCEP, “Pékin… peut prétendre incarner la croissance, l’ouverture, la coopération, la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique en annonçant une décarbonisation en 2060… Le défi intellectuel pour la démocratie est d’ampleur. Vont coexister plusieurs formes de capitalisme et choisir la relocalisation et le protectionnisme serait funeste pour la France. Avec l’Europe, elle doit au contraire défendre sa vision d’une remondialisation”.
Extract: With the RCEP agreement, ‘Beijing … can claim to embody growth, openness, cooperation, the fight against global warming by announcing decarbonization in 2060 … The intellectual challenge for democracy is extensive. Several forms will coexist of capitalism and choosing relocation and protectionism would be fatal for France.With Europe, it must on the contrary defend its vision of globalization’.
[December 3, 2020] Corée du Sud, Brésil, Inde: Ces trois marchés émergents qui ont le vent en poupe
Bastien Bouchaud, Les Echos
Extrait : “La reprise de l’économie mondiale attendue l’année prochaine devrait continuer à soutenir les marchés émergents que sont la Corée du Sud, le Brésil et l’Inde. Le premier pays devrait être tirée par ses secteurs technologique et pharmaceutique. Le second est très tourné vers les matières premières, l’énergie et le secteur financier et offre des opportunités pour les investisseurs. L’Inde présente un potentiel de développement très important et devrait enregistrer une croissance plus forte que la Chine selon le FMI”.
Extract: ‘The global economic recovery expected next year should continue to support emerging markets South Korea, Brazil and India. The first country is expected to be driven by its technological and pharmaceutical sectors. The second is very focused on commodities, energy and the financial sector and offers opportunities for investors. India has very significant development potential and is expected to register stronger growth than China according to the IMF’.
[November 24, 2020] Covid : « La crise ne frappe pas les wagons mais les locomotives »
Laurence Albert, Laurent Thévenin, Les Echos
Extrait : “Dans les… territoires industriels très spécialisés, l’exposition à la crise semble plus forte…. Il y a des logiques de spécialisation très porteuses mais très risquées aussi… Néanmoins, les secteurs concernés jouent un grand rôle… En 2008 déjà, les territoires qui avaient le mieux résisté étaient ceux qui avaient des activités mixtes, en combinant un profil productif, exportateur et un modèle résidentiel”.
Extract: ‘In… highly specialized industrial areas, exposure to the crisis seems greater… There are very promising but also very risky specialization approaches… Nevertheless, the sectors concerned play a major role… In 2008 already, territories which had resisted the best were those which had mixed activities, combining a productive, exporting profile and a residential model’.
[November 23, 2020] Réinventer la multinationale
David Barroux, Les Echos
Extrait : “L’heure est au bio, au plus sain, au moins transformé, au local, aux petites marques et à un marketing digital, s’appuyant plus sur les écrans personnels de nos smartphones que celui familial de la télévision… Pour les multinationales, la réinvention n’est plus une option, c’est devenue une obligation… Le siège doit désormais non plus dicter mais se mettre au service de régions plus autonomes”.
Extract: ‘The time has come for organic, healthier, at least transformed, local, small brands and digital marketing, relying more on the personal screens of our smartphones than the family television screen … For multinationals, the reinvention is no longer an option, it has become an obligation… Headquarters must no longer dictate but put itself at the service of more autonomous regions’.
[November 7, 2020] Even as traditional globalisation has slowed, a new kind has sped up
The Economist
Extract: ‘Globalisation in the traditional sense has slowed in the past couple of decades. Even before covid-19 smashed it, global trade had stagnated for a decade. By last year, foreign direct investment (fdi) as a share of gdp had fallen by two-thirds compared with its peak in 2007. The globalisation of brands, which once seemed unstoppable, has slowed… And yet in recent years a different type of globalisation has accelerated. A new design aesthetic is taking over the world, spread not via brands or fdi, but through social media and the internet. Even as formal trade slows, the globalisation of taste is rampant… Yet the biggest driver of late has surely been the internet… Worldwide, the proportion of people with a broadband subscription has nearly doubled since 2010’.
[October 8, 2020] Changing places. The pandemic will not end globalisation, but it will reshape it
The Economist
Extract: ‘Global supply chains were forged in the period from the mid-1980s until the financial crisis 25 years later. Trade surged in volume and changed in nature. It grew nearly twice as fast as global output, as emerging markets in Asia were bedded in to the world economy… The 2010s slammed on the brakes… As manufacturing became more automated, savings from locating production where workers were cheapest shrank. The rise of social media made consumer fads more volatile, necessitating faster production and shipment to satisfy impatient buyers… Then Donald Trump was elected in November 2016, and a trade war began between America and China. Companies realised they were exposed to political risk from economic nationalism, as much as from distant disruption’. ‘Further ahead the future of globalisation will be determined less by goods than by services… Services trade is hard to liberalise because it often means harmonising regulations. Fields such as education, health care, accounting and finance are littered with barriers to entry and requirements for local credentials’. ‘The increased digitisation brought on by covid-19 can only help services trade, even as goods trade continues to slowbalise. But the extent of that help depends on how much the pandemic reshapes labour market’…
[October 3, 2020] Pourquoi le retrait américain du monde risque d’être irréversible
Hubert Rodier, Les Echos
Extrait : « Le président Trump a accentué les tendances de l’Amérique à l’effacement diplomatique et à l’unilatéralisme. Des tendances qui pourraient devenir irréversibles. L’Amérique n’est plus l’hyperpuissance de l’après-guerre froide et elle n’exerce plus l’attraction auprès de nombre d’alliés européens et asiatiques qu’elle détenait depuis des décennies. Mais ni la Chine ni l’Europe, toujours en quête de son unité politique, ne peuvent exercer ce leadership mondial…. Le chacun pour soi est la règle au milieu de ce que les diplomates qualifient de « dépression stratégique ».
Extract: ‘President Trump has accentuated America’s tendencies towards diplomatic self-effacement and unilateralism. Trends that could become irreversible. America is no longer the post-Cold War superpower and it no longer exerts the attraction on many of the European and Asian allies it had held for decades. But neither China nor Europe, always in search of its political unity, can exercise this world leadership …. Every man for himself is the rule in the midst of what diplomats call a “strategic depression’.
[September 25, 2020] Le rêve étrange du « remade in France »
Jean-Marc Vittori, Les Echos
Extrait : « Au XXIe siècle, l’essor des technologies numériques, de la réalité augmentée à l’impression 3D en passant par les robots , va rendre compétitives des usines plus petites, avec des productions plus personnalisées, plus proches des marchés et donc moins consommatrices d’énergie. Avec toutefois un grave défaut aux yeux des politiques : il leur faudra beaucoup de capital et peu de travail… Les relocalisations peuvent paraître souhaitables. Elles sont possibles. Mais elles resteront marginales ».
Extract: ‘In the 21st century, the rise of digital technologies, from augmented reality to 3D printing via robots, will make smaller factories competitive, with more personalized productions, closer to the markets and therefore less consuming. energy. However, in the eyes of politicians, there is a serious flaw: they will need a lot of capital and little work … Relocations may seem desirable. They are possible. But they will remain marginal’
[July 30, 2020] Cette Europe à qui il manque un zéro
Eric Le Boucher, Les Echos
Extrait : « Le rachat de la pépite britannique des semi-conducteurs par l’américain Nvidia est une terrible défaite pour l’Europe dans un secteur clé du numérique. Aucun groupe continental n’est aujourd’hui en mesure d’aligner 40 milliards d’euros pour réaliser une telle acquisition. Le secteur privé européen n’est hélas pas à la hauteur capitalistique pour doter l’Union d’une force équivalente à celle des deux empires chinois et américain ».
Extract: ‘The takeover of the British semiconductor nugget by the American Nvidia is a terrible defeat for Europe in a key digital sector. No continental group is today able to align 40 billion euros to achieve such an acquisition. The European private sector is unfortunately not up to the level of capital to endow the Union with a force equivalent to that of the two Chinese and American empires’.
July/August, 2020
The Pandemic and Political Order. It Takes a State
Francis Fukuyama, Foreign Affairs
Extract: ‘The factors responsible for successful pandemic responses have been State capacity, social trust, and leadership…. Only large companies with deep pockets will be able to ride out the storm, with the technology giants gaining most of all, as digital interactions become ever more important…. The global distribution of power will continue to shift eastward, since East Asia has done better at managing the situation than Europe or the United States…. The rise of nationalism will increase the possibility of international conflict…. But along with the problems, the crisis has also revealed government’s ability to provide solutions, drawing on collective resources in the process. A lingering sense of “alone together” could boost social solidarity and drive the development of more generous social protections down the road’.
[July 30, 2020] The fear of robots displacing workers has returned. But do not expect tech-induced lay-offs just yet
The Economist
Extract: ‘Among the many breathless headlines prompted by the pandemic are those warning of a new wave of job-destroying automation. The pace of automation in some parts of the economy, like factory floors and warehouses, is almost certain to accelerate. Yet on the whole, robot-induced mass unemployment should remain near the bottom of workers’ lists of worries’.
[July 30, 2020] Would a Biden administration be softer than Trump on China?
The Economist
Extract: ‘Mr Trump’s campaign wants to portray the presumptive Democratic nominee as soft on China, suggesting Mr Biden while vice-president underestimated the threat ». But « China has changed since he (Mr Biden) was vice-president, as has the elite consensus in Washington. It will take more than an election to end the dark new era in US-China relations’.
[July 28, 2020] Opinion Aucune culture n’est fongible dans la mondialisation
Jean-Dominique Sénard (Président de Renault), Jean-Christophe Fromantin (maire de Neuilly-sur-Seine), Les Echos
Extrait : « La mondialisation est accusée de tous les maux, et l’épidémie de Covid-19 a encore accentué cette défiance. Pourtant, les échanges, s’ils restent respectueux de la diversité des cultures et ne sombrent dans une dangereuse uniformisation, sont l’une des clés de notre développement futur ».
Extract: ‘Globalization is accused of all evils, and the Covid-19 epidemic has further accentuated this mistrust. However, exchanges, if they remain respectful of the diversity of cultures and do not sink into a dangerous standardization, are one of the keys to our future development’.
[July 28, 2020] America’s Mittelstand Advanced manufacturing can thrive, as Grand Rapids shows
Special report, The Economist
Extract: ‘The Grand Rapids metro area has more than 1m residents today, up from 740,000 in 2000. New types of manufacturers flourish, such as makers of medical devices and equipment… The city is a model for deployment of social capital. Researchers have tried to understand why some collaborative efforts succeed but not others. Part of the answer is that, as with the Mittelstand, many firms in the Midwest are owned by families with a passion for their home towns’
[July 28, 2020] Apple abandonne la Chine au profit de l’Inde pour fabriquer son iPhone 11
Claude Fouquet, Les Echos
Extrait : « Des iPhone 11 « made in India » sont disponibles depuis quelques jours en Inde. Un moyen pour Apple de prendre ses distances avec la Chine, alors que les relations entre Washington et Pékin s’enveniment. L’Inde, également en délicatesse avec la Chine, savoure la nouvelle… Si le marché chinois n’a jamais été facile, celui de l’Inde ne l’est pas plus. Bien au contraire. L’implantation et la production locale sont bien souvent le seul moyen d’être compétitif, alors que les autorités indiennes, qui ont lancé en 2014 le programme « Make in India », taxent à près de 22 % les produits importés ».
Extract: ‘IPhone 11 “made in India” have been available for a few days in India. A way for Apple to distance itself from China, while relations between Washington and Beijing are deteriorating. India, also at odds with China, relishes the news … If the Chinese market has never been easy, India’s is not. Quite the contrary. Establishment and local production are often the only way to be competitive, while the Indian authorities, which launched the “Make in India” program in 2014, tax imported products at nearly 22%’.
[July 28, 2020] Le plan des Gracques pour sauver l’industrie française
Marine Godelier, Les Echos
Extrait : « Créer une « Darpa » à la française ou repenser le cadre européen des marchés publics : les Gracques, groupe de réflexion de décideurs économiques de tendance sociale-libérale, ont présenté leur plan pour réindustrialiser la France ».
Extract: ‘Create a French-style “Darpa” or rethink the European framework for public procurement: the Gracques, a think tank of social-liberal economic decision-makers, presented their plan to reindustrialize France’.
[July 10, 2020] Une partie de la production va revenir vers l’Europe et les Etats-Unis
Kevin Sneader (head of Mc Kinsey & Co) interviewed by François Vical, Le Echos
Extrait : « Dans les années qui viennent on va assister à un formidable mouvement de redéploiement des emplois. La demande pour certains métiers va exploser. Dans la santé par exemple, la high-tech ou encore dans la logistique, qui nécessiteront un très fort niveau de services et d’interactions humaines. A l’inverse, à l’horizon 2030, l’automatisation va déplacer 15 % des emplois à l’échelle mondiale, notamment ceux fondés sur des tâches simples et répétitives ».
Extract: ‘In the years to come, we will witness a tremendous movement to redeploy jobs. The demand for certain trades will explode. In health, for example, high-tech or in logistics, which will require a very high level of services and human interactions. Conversely, by 2030, automation will displace 15% of jobs worldwide, especially those based on simple and repetitive tasks’.
[June 24, 2020] La relocalisation des médicaments oui, mais à quel prix?
Catherine Ducruet, Les Echos
Extrait : « Même s’il convient de se replacer dans un cadre européen, il faudrait néanmoins une véritable politique industrielle du médicament pour rendre la France plus attractive, avec des facilitations réglementaires, des incitations fiscales pour la R&D et la production, pourquoi pas des zones franches ».
Extract: ‘Even if we need to place ourselves in a European framework, we should nevertheless have a real industrial policy for medicinal products to make France more attractive, with regulatory facilities, tax incentives for R&D and production, and why not free zones?’.
[June 24, 2020] Opinion Investissements tech : au-delà des licornes
Henri de Bodinat (founder of Time For Growth), Laurent Bénard (general manager of Capza), Le Echos
Extrait : « Les start-up à haut potentiel et ultra-valorisées captent l’attention des investisseurs de la tech. Ceux-ci oublient parfois toutes ces jeunes pousses moins médiatiques, mais au modèle économique clair, au chiffre d’affaires établi et au fort potentiel de croissance. Ce sont pourtant ces entreprises qui, si elles étaient accompagnées, pourraient former à terme un véritable écosystème numérique en Europe ».
Extract: ‘High-potential, high-growth start-ups are capturing the attention of tech investors. But these latter sometimes forget all those less media-oriented start-ups with a clear business model, established turnover and strong growth potential. However, it is these companies which, if they were supported, could eventually form a real digital ecosystem in Europe’.
[June 20, 2020] The US and China are entering a new cold war. Where does that leave the rest of us?
Timothy Garton Ash, The Gardian
Extract: ‘Let’s be honest: there is a new cold war between China and the United States. The coronavirus crisis has only heightened the antagonism…. Liberal democracies must learn the lessons of the past by thinking long term, applying a strong moral code – and avoiding hubris’.
[June 15, 2020] Mission Impossible? As Global Supply Chains Lie In Tatters, India Aims To Replace China As ‘Factory To The World’
Saibal Dasgupta, Jyotika Sood and Lola Nayar. Outlook
Extract: ‘India has made a good beginning in its attempt to wrest the manufacturing crown from China. But it is still an uphill task. India has the intent, talent, and capabilities. What it needs is a five-year comprehensive and detailed strategy blueprint, which is developed after a close study of the strengths and weaknesses of countries like China and Vietnam. In the past, Indian policy makers and businesses were either risk averse or saddled with doubts and lack of ambition’.
[June 15, 2020] After Covid, is it time for the UK to invest in its industry again?
Julian Coman, The Gardian
Extract: ‘The reopening of shops offers hope of recovery. But with economic challenges forecast after the pandemic, will the government end decades of orthodoxy and follow Europe by investing state funds into struggling sectors’?
[June 12, 2020] Notre « réindustrialisation » va faire mal aux émergents.
Éric Le Boucher, Les Echos
Extrait : « Relocaliser : le mot est dans la bouche de tous les dirigeants politiques des économies avancées. Mais cette relocalisation va se faire aux dépens du développement des pays émergents, qui vont par ailleurs payer un lourd tribut, sanitaire et économique, du fait de l’épidémie ».
Extract: (translation) ‘Relocate: the word is in the mouths of all political leaders in advanced economies. But this relocation will be at the expense of the development in the emerging countries, which will also pay a heavy price, both health and economic, as a result of the epidemic’.
[June 11, 2020] The Economic Consequences of Disrupted Global Supply Chains.
Dalia Marin, Project Syndicate
Extract: ‘The strain on global supply chains partly reflects the turn by many governments toward protectionist policies since the openness of the world economy peaked in 2011. And now, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a supply-shock recession. The related uncertainty may slow the expansion of global value chains by at least 35%. Indeed, world trade is no longer expanding faster than world GDP. If this continues, companies will reshore manufacturing from Asia and elsewhere’.
[June 8, 2020] Opinion The Return of Economic Nationalism.
David Brog (President of the Edmund Burke Foundation), Newsweek
Extract: ‘When conservatives support an active governmental role in promoting our national industry and protecting our workers, we are not betraying our conservative heritage—we’re honoring it. This doesn’t mean that conservatives don’t revere the free market—we most certainly do. But we’ve always seen the free markets as a means towards an end and never mistook it for an end in itself’.
[June 6, 2020] Can Hong Kong remain a global financial centre?
The Economist
Extract ‘Over the past two decades, as China has risen to become the world’s second-largest economy, Hong Kong has skilfully cultivated its role in the middle, such that it has become the most important international financial centre after New York and London…. This risk is growing for Hong Kong’s position as a financial centre, as tensions build over China’s interference in its government and legal system, which, under the formulation of “one country, two systems”, are supposed to be largely autonomous…. The most likely scenario is that Hong Kong’s institutions face gradual decay and that it drifts away from being a globalised financial centre towards one that is more mainland Chinese’.
[June 4, 2020] Pourquoi une crise si violente dans les pays émergents
Jean-Marc Vittori. Les Échos
Extrait : « Moins touchés par le virus, les pays émergents subissent pourtant une crise économique profonde. Les raisons sont multiples : fuite des capitaux, chute des recettes d’exportation, relance budgétaire moins forte. Une nouvelle crise de la dette menace… Le seul bol d’air est venu de la chute des prix du pétrole qui a ralenti l’inflation ».
Extract (translation): ‘Less affected by the virus, emerging countries are nevertheless undergoing a deep economic crisis. There are many reasons for this: capital flight, falling export revenues, weaker fiscal stimulus. The only breath of fresh air has come from the fall in oil prices, which has slowed inflation, opening up space for central banks to lower their interest rates… The only breath of fresh air has come from the fall in oil prices, which has slowed inflation’.
[June 3, 2020] Opinion. It’s time for a massive reset of capitalism.
Klaus Schwab (Founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum). The Global and Mail
Extract: ‘A sharp economic downturn has already begun…. the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. The Great Reset agenda would have three main components… Steer the market toward fairer outcomes… Ensure that investments advance shared goals, such as equality and sustainability…. Harness the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to support the public good’
[June 2, 2020] Opinion. The death of globalisation has been announced many times. But this is a perfect storm.
Adam Tooze (professor of history at Columbia University), The Gardian
Extract: ‘As the economic crisis deepens, 2020 is beginning to look like something worse: a perfect disruptive storm… Add changes in technology, macroeconomics and geopolitics to the virus, and it becomes clear why we face a turbulent year.’
[May 28, 2020] Attractivité : la bataille du monde d’après.
Étienne Lefebvre. Les Échos
Extrait : « S’il est beaucoup question de relocalisations, la France va aussi devoir continuer d’attirer des investissements étrangers pour limiter l’impact de la crise. Et le combat s’annonce âpre, avec le Royaume-Uni en particulier ».
Extract (translation): ‘While there is much talk of relocations, France will also have to continue to attract foreign investment to limit the impact of the crisis. And the battle looks set to be fierce, with the United Kingdom in particular’.
[May 26, 2020] Le coronavirus ou le reflux annoncé de l’hypermondialisation.
Jean-Marc Vittori. Les Échos
Extrait : « L’épidémie va considérablement ralentir le commerce mondial. Une tendance déjà à l’oeuvre depuis la crise de 2008. Pour autant, il faudra préserver les flux d’échanges mondiaux pour sécuriser les approvisionnements. L’hypermondialisation a peut-être vécu. Mais la mondialisation, elle, reste nécessaire ».
Extract (translation): ‘The epidemic will significantly slow down world trade. A trend already at work since the 2008 crisis. However, global trade flows will need to be preserved to secure supplies. Hyperglobalization may be over. But globalisation is still necessary’.
[May 25, 2020] The world needs pharmaceuticals from China and India to beat coronavirus
Rory Horner. The Conversation
Extract : “The dependencies and inter-dependencies of globalisation have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic – and nowhere more so than in the pharmaceutical industry. […] The biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, known as “big pharma”, are American and European. […] Yet these companies – and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole – rely on global supply chains. And China and India play key roles in the supply of both ingredients and finished drugs.”
[May 24, 2020] Covid-19: How the meat industry became a global health liability
Colin Kinniburgh. France24
Extract : ‘From South Dakota to Brazil to Germany, meat processing workers around the world have been among the hardest hit by Covid-19. Will the pandemic force us to rethink our food system?.’
[May 20, 2020] Opinion. In a post-pandemic economy, Asian businesses will think smaller and safer, with worrying implications for many workers.
Colleen K. Howe (program associate at the Asia Business Council). South China Morning Post.
Extract : ‘Asia’s business leaders now start almost every discussion by talking about digital transformation…. combined with the uncertainty around the future of global supply chains, it could prompt a shift away from large factories towards smaller and more automated regional facilities with many fewer workers’.
[May 19, 2020] The Big Failure of Small Government.
Mariana Mazzucato, Guilio Quaggiotto. project-syndicate.org
Extract : ‘It is no coincidence that countries with mission-driven governments have fared better in the COVID-19 crisis than have countries beholden to the cult of efficiency. Effective governance, it turns out, cannot be conjured up at will, because it requires investment in state capacity’.
[May 15, 2020] Opinion. Humans are not resources. Coronavirus shows why we must democratise work
Collectif, The Gardian. From: https://democratizingwork.org/
Extract: ‘Human health and the care of the most vulnerable cannot be governed by market forces alone. If we leave these things solely to the market, we run the risk of exacerbating inequalities to the point of forfeiting the very lives of the least advantaged… Democratise firms; decommodify work; stop treating human beings as resources so that we can focus together on sustaining life on this planet’.
[May 14, 2020] On a trouvé un vaccin économique pour le monde d’après.
Éric Le Boucher. Les Echos
Extrait : « Si l’on transformait les milliards d’aides que l’État verse ou versera aux entreprises et aux ménages, non plus comme des crédits ou comme des subventions, mais comme des actifs ? Ce serait la solution aux problèmes principaux que l’époque traverse : la dette, le capitalisme non inclusif, le climat et l’impuissance de l’Europe… elle consiste à intégrer par anticipation dans la valeur les externalités sociales et environnementales ».
Extract: (translation) ‘What if the billions of aid that the State pays or will pay to companies and households were to be transformed from credits or subsidies to assets? This would be the solution to the main problems of our times: debt, non-inclusive capitalism, climate and Europe’s impotence… it consists of integrating social and environmental externalities into the value in advance’.
[May 14, 2020] Opinion. Coronavirus has presented China with a historic opportunity — will it take it?
Peter Frankopan (Professor of global history at the University of Oxford), The Gardian
Extract: ‘for all China’s talk of global leadership, it is doing little to lead international collective action. Nor, for that matter, is the US, the EU or anyone else… this indeterminacy could have very significant consequences for global affairs’.
[May 12, 2020] Opinion. Ordinances by States to change labour laws are a travesty.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta (Contributing Editor at the Indian Express. He has been vice-chancellor of Ashoka University and president, Centre Policy Research, New Delhi), Indian Express
Extract: ‘The Narendra Modi government was right in thinking that these laws needed to be looked at afresh… But, instead, we have a four-pronged assault on labour… These ordinances confirm the worst fears that the pandemic emergency will be used to amass arbitrary powers at a time when it is not even possible to protest’.
[May 12, 2020] Opinion. L’Afrique peut profiter de l’après-crise pour relocaliser son industrie.
Benjamin Romain, Wilfrid Lauriano do Rego, Le Monde
Extrait : « Nombre de pays africains pourraient tirer parti de la crise en offrant des alternatives à des partenaires commerciaux (européens, voire américains) souhaitant amoindrir leur dépendance à l’Asie. La proximité géographique, de langue et de culture devrait favoriser le continent… Certains pays africains devraient simplifier et renforcer la solidité de leur chaîne d’approvisionnement pour minimiser les risques ».
Extract: (translation) ‘Many African countries could take advantage of the crisis by offering alternatives to trading partners (European or even American) wishing to reduce their dependence on Asia. Geographical, linguistic and cultural proximity should favour the continent… Some African countries should simplify and strengthen the strength of their supply chains to minimise risk’.
[May 12, 2020] Non, la Covid-19 ne signe pas la fin de la mondialisation.
Richard Hiault, Les Echos
Extrait : « La démondialisation ne devrait donc pas voir le jour. Ce qui n’empêche pas une adaptation… La pandémie de Covid-19 pourrait amener certaines multinationales à revoir leur stratégie d’approvisionnement pour diminuer les risques liés à une trop forte concentration géographique de la production de certains composants, et donc à réorganiser leur chaîne logistique. ».
Extract: (translation) ‘De-globalization should therefore not come about. The Covid-19 pandemic could lead some multinationals to review their supply strategy for reducing the risks associated with an excessive geographical concentration of the production of certain components, and therefore to reorganize their supply chain’.
[May 11, 2020] Opinion. Navigating Deglobalization.
Mohamed A. El-Erian (Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, the corporate parent of PIMCO. He was Chairman of US President Barack Obama’s Global Development Council and is President Elect of Queens’ College at Cambridge University), Project Syndicate
Extract: ‘Appeals to recommit to globalization are highly unlikely to gain traction in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those keen to preserve globalization would instead be better advised to focus on minimizing the disruption caused by the coming period of deglobalization and laying the groundwork for a more sustainable process thereafter’.
[May 11, 2020] Automobile : Bruno Le Maire relance le débat sur les relocalisations.
Anne Feitz, Les Echos
Extrait : « Relocaliser la production automobile : le débat n’est pas vraiment nouveau, mais il prend une résonance toute particulière en ces temps de crise sanitaire et économique. Le ministre de l’Economie, Bruno Le Maire, a ainsi clairement conditionné ce lundi le soutien de l’Etat à la filière à une relocalisation de certaines productions dans l’Hexagone ».
Extract: (translation) ‘Relocating car production: the debate is not really new, but it is particularly relevant in these times of health and economic crisis. The Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, has clearly conditioned this Monday the support of the State to the sector to a relocation of certain productions in France’.
[May 9, 2020] The pandemic is a chance to revamp India’s pharmaceutical industry.
The Economist
Extract: ‘Companies could switch from primarily making generics to producing higher-margin licensed drugs… The world relies on their health. Their revenues amounted to $40bn in 2019, half of it from exports. They produce one-tenth of all pharmaceuticals by volume, including 50% of the world’s vaccines, 40% of generics sold in America and a quarter of all medicine bought in Britain. Visitors from Africa leave India with suitcases stuffed with cheap pills’.
[May 9, 2020] As Pandemic Spreads, Regard for China Recedes in West.
Stephen Olson, East Asia Forum
Extract: ‘The coronavirus pandemic is exacting an expanding toll on China’s standing in the West, with U.S. and European views on cooperation with Beijing ranging from trade to bilateral ties steadily dimming, officials and analysts say’.
[May 9, 2020] The coronavirus pandemic has called into question several assumptions which have underpinned global trade for decades
Laurence Norman and Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal
Extract: ‘The coronavirus pandemic has called into question several assumptions which have underpinned global trade for decades. By the time the dust settles, the world’s approach to trade could look quite different’.
[May 7, 2020] As China goes global, its banks are coming out, too. European banks are losing their influence
The Economist
Extract: ‘On the eve of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, European banks were the kings of cross-border lending. They accounted for 71% of total flows, which had grown from $10trn in 2000 to $35trn in 2008. But the subprime meltdown, followed by the eurozone crisis, forced them to retreat… Conditions in Europe meant its banks had little choice but to trim their balance-sheets. Banks shed assets overseas. Far-flung subsidiaries were sold or shut. Today Europe (including Britain and Switzerland) provides 47% of the world’s $31trn in cross-border flows’. ‘Chinese banks are already huge. Their total assets now surpass those of American and European banks. They are also providing more cross-border credit, the bread and butter of international banks… Their tentacles are spreading. The Big Four now have a total of 618 branches outside the mainland—a conservative proxy, since commercial banks need few shops. Since 2015 their share of global cross-border lending has risen from 5% to 7%. Foreign assets account for 9% of their book. Their footprint differs from that of Western peers: Chinese banks supply two-thirds of all cross-border lending within emerging markets… Last year Chinese banks earned three times more investment-banking fees than all Asian rivals combined (excluding Japan). Their share of the total has jumped from 1% in 2000 to 14%’.
[May 7, 2020] Geopolitics and technology threaten America’s financial dominance. And now the covid-19 pandemic is precipitating a split
The Economist
Extract: ‘The system is made up of the institutions, currencies and payment tools that dictate how the invisible liquidity feeding the real economy flows around the world. America has been its pulsating centre since the second world war. Now, though, repeated missteps, and China’s growing pull, have begun to tear at the seams. Many assume the status quo is too entrenched to be challenged, but that is no longer the case. A separate financial realm is forming in the emerging world, with different pillars and a new master… America’s ability to guarantee global prosperity is the glue that holds the financial order together. With its legitimacy badly hit, renewed assaults on the system seem inevitable. On the front line are the dollar-system’s foot soldiers, the banks’.
[May 5, 2020] Opinion. Post COVID-19: More regional trade and shorter supply chains?
Stephen Olson (Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation), East Asia Forum
Extract: ‘Although this reconsideration predates the pandemic, extended global supply chains will make far less sense in the post-COVID-19 world. The highly touted economic efficiencies generated by extreme specialisation of production and just-in-time inventories will now be weighed against the vulnerabilities they embed across global supply chains if even just one link in the chain breaks down. Rising economic nationalism and strategic rivalries further exacerbate these vulnerabilities’.
[May 5, 2020] Future of Our Global Economy. The Beginning of De-Globalization.
Alexander Jung, Die Spiegle
Extract: ‘The virus has revealed just how vulnerable our economic model is, regardless of how profitable it has been for Germany’s export industry. Those companies whose production chains are largely international will face the greatest challenges…. Should coronavirus end up reversing globalization, in other words, it doesn’t necessarily have to be disadvantageous to the export industry. Furthermore, not all products have to be packed into containers and shipped overseas. Globalization these days also refers to the exchange of virtual goods, such as data. And digitalization opens up vast potential to German industry’.
[May/June, 2020] Opinion. The End of Grand Strategy America Must Think Small.
Daniel W. Drezner, (Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University), Ronald R. Krebs (Beverly and Richard Fink Professor in the Liberal Arts and Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota), Randall Schweller (Professor of Political Science and Director of the Program for the Study of Realist Foreign Policy at Ohio State University), Foreign Affairs
Extract ‘Moving forward without grand strategy requires embracing two principles: decentralization and incrementalism…. The corporate sector has learned that managers must avoid the temptation to control every decision and instead figure out how to steer innovation, by shaping the environment within which choices emerge…. Governments should organize their foreign policy machinery in the same way’.
[May 03, 2020] Coronavirus : pourquoi la France a tant de mal à se fournir en médicaments
Marie-Béatrice Baudet. Le Monde
Extrait : “La crise sanitaire a rendu les difficultés d’approvisionnement de la France en médicaments particulièrement sensibles. Pourtant, la dépendance du pays à des usines chinoises ou indiennes était connue depuis plusieurs années.”
“Extract” (translation) : “The health crisis has made France’s supply of medicines particularly sensitive. However, the country’s dependence on Chinese or Indian factories had been known for several years.”
[May 03, 2020] From Kenya to Bangladesh mask-making has become a thriving cottage industry
Kate Hodal. The Guardian
Extract : “From crowded informal settlements to conservation areas teeming with wildlife, cottage industries have popped up around the globe producing and distributing face masks for frontline workers, taxi drivers, market sellers and more. Usually comprised of two fabric layers with a disposable filter, mask-making enterprises are stoking local economies and helping communities. [From Kenya to Bangladesh], charities, NGOs and garment factories are adapting to provide protective gear, generating income and keeping communities safe.”
[May 3, 2020] Les géants technologiques affichent leur résilience face à la crise.
Anaïs Moutot, Les Echos
Extrait : « Les résultats trimestriels publiés cette semaine par Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google et Facebook ont confirmé la capacité des Gafam à sortir sans trop d’égratignures de cette crise, voire à en bénéficier, le confinement accélérant le recours à leurs produits et services. «Nous avons vu l’équivalent de deux années de transformation numérique en deux mois», s’est réjoui Satya Nadella, le directeur général de Microsoft ».
Extract: (translation) ‘The quarterly results published this week by Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook have confirmed Gafam’s ability to emerge from this crisis without too many scratches, or even to benefit from it, with containment accelerating the use of their products and services. “We have seen the equivalent of two years of digital transformation in two months,” said Satya Nade’.
[May 2, 2020] Coronavirus : le monde d’après… selon Wall Street.
Arnaud Leparmentier, Le Monde
Extrait : « A voir les parcours boursiers d’Amazon, Tesla ou Procter & Gamble, les investisseurs estiment que le monde de demain sera plus cartellisé, plus globalisé et plus technologique. A rebours de ceux qui plaident en faveur d’une démondialisation et d’un retour au local ».
Extract: (translation) ‘Looking at the stock market performance of Amazon, Tesla or Procter & Gamble, investors believe that tomorrow’s world will be more cartelized, more globalized and more technological. In contrast to those who argue in favor of de-globalization and a return to the local level, investors believe that the world of tomorrow will be more cartelized, more globalized and more technological’.
[April 29, 2020] How French Workers Took on Amazon in the Middle of a Pandemic and Won
Cole Stangler. The New York Times
Extract : “In response to a separate union complaint, a judge in a Parisian suburb found Amazon still hadn’t done enough to protect workplace safety and ordered the company to limit warehouse activity to certain essential items — food, and hygiene and medical products — until it developed improved health and safety measures with labor unions. […] The ruling was too complex to obey, the company said, before filing an appeal and announcing it would suspend activity at all of its French warehouses until further notice. […] That showdown offers insights that extend well beyond French borders. “
[April 28, 2020] Opinion. The Coming Greater Depression of the 2020s.
Nouriel Roubini. project-syndicate.org
Extract ‘Ominous and risky trends were around long before Covid-19 : rising levels of debt; ageing populations; deflation; currency debasement; digital disruption; new protectionism; weakeness of democracies; China-US standoff; environmental disruption… all of which are now growing even more acute’’.
[April 17, 2020] Coronavirus : comment retrouver notre autonomie alimentaire
Jean-Marc Vittori. Les Echos
Extrait : « La pandémie est venue rappeler à chacun une évidence : se nourrir est un besoin fondamental et l’alimentation un bien plus stratégique que le pétrole. Faut-il dès lors revoir notre modèle pour garantir notre autonomie ? C’est ce qu’a laissé entendre Emmanuel Macron dans son discours solennel du 12 mars. Mais comment faire ? »
Extract (translation): ‘The pandemic has reminded everyone of the obvious: food is a fundamental need and food is a much more strategic necessity than oil. Should we therefore review our model to guarantee our autonomy? This is what Emmanuel Macron suggested in his solemn speech on 12 March. But how can we do this?’.
[April 16, 2020] Les Alliés appelés à protéger leurs industries et infrastructures stratégiques des « adversaires » de l’Otan.
Laurent Lagneau. Zone militaire. Opex360.com.
Extrait : « Les adversaires potentiels des pays de l’Otan vont tenter de profiter de la crise économique provoquée par le Covid-19 pour essayer de prendre le contrôle d’entreprises ou d’infrastructures stratégiques et de saper l’unité de l’Alliance… « la vente d’infrastructures stratégiques par les pays les plus vulnérables pourrait saper la capacité de résistance des pays de l’Alliance en cas de nouvelle crise. »”
Extract (translation): ‘Potential opponents of NATO countries will try to take advantage of the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 to try to take control of strategic companies or infrastructures and undermine the unity of the Alliance…’. ‘ the sale of strategic infrastructure by the most vulnerable countries could undermine the resilience of Alliance countries in the event of a new crisis.’
[April 14, 2020] Cette épidémie qui accélère la transition numérique
Jean-Marc Vittori. Les Echos
Extrait : « Quand le contact personnel devient un problème, le numérique devient une solution. L’épidémie lève de nombreux freins sur la mutation numérique de l’économie. Le télétravail est la face la plus visible du basculement. Mais la révolution va bien au-delà ».
Extract (translation): ‘When personal contact becomes a problem, digital becomes a solution. The epidemic is putting many brakes on the digital transformation of the economy. Teleworking is the most visible face of the changeover. But the revolution goes far beyond’
[April 13, 2020] Coronavirus : les Français font des relocalisations la priorité de l’après-crise
Pierre-Alain Furbury. Les Echos
Extrait : “A l’issue de cette crise, plus de neuf personnes interrogées sur dix veulent que l’exécutif garantisse l’autonomie agricole de la France » (93 %), pousse la relocalisation des entreprises industrielles (92 %) et favorise la recherche et la production des laboratoires pharmaceutiques français et étrangers dans notre pays (91 %)”.
Extract (translation) : “At the end of this crisis, more than nine out of ten respondents want the executive to guarantee France’s agricultural autonomy” (93%), push for the relocation of industrial companies (92%) and promote research and production by French and foreign pharmaceutical companies in our country (91%)”
[April 12, 2020] Breaking the value chain: How the lockdown migration will impact other parts of the economy
Nikhil Damodaran. The Indian Express
Extract ‘India comprises of high growth industrial or trade centres, dependent on this constant stream of migrant labour through these networks. The aggregate growth in GDP relied on these regions which spearhead production and generate momentum for the rest of the economy. The lockdown strips these centres of their capability and threatens India’s overall macroeconomic stability’.
[April 9, 2020] Opinion. Why the coronavirus crisis won’t weaken China’s position in the global supply chain.
Prof Zhang Jun. South China Morning Post
Extract ‘China retains considerable competitive advantages in many areas, such as electronics, and machinery and equipment manufacturing. It cannot be replaced, at least not in the near term…. Meanwhile China has worked to boost domestic consumption, thereby reducing its reliance on foreign demand. As a result, the world may now be more dependent on China than China is on the world’.
[April 9, 2020] Opinion. Le Covid-19 va accélérer le passage du protectionnisme au précautionnisme
Pascal Lamy. Propos recueillis par Julien Bouissou. Le Monde
Extrait : « La crise liée à la pandémie de Covid-19 va entraîner une reconfiguration, une diversification de la mondialisation et renforcer le « précautionnisme ». Ce ne sont plus les entreprises que l’on protège avec des tarifs douaniers contre la concurrence internationale, mais les citoyens et les consommateurs que l’on protège contre des risques divers. Les standards et les normes de qualité remplacent les tarifs douaniers ».
Extract (translation) ‘The crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic will lead to a reconfiguration and diversification of globalization and reinforce “precautionism”. It is no longer companies that are protected with tariffs against international competition, but citizens and consumers who are protected against various risks. Quality standards and norms replace tariffs’.
[April 9, 2020] Dans le high-tech, la démondialisation est lancée
Sophy Caulier, Le Monde
Extrait : “…plus qu’un rééquilibrage, l’Amérique cherche surtout à protéger son leadership dans le secteur de la technologie, mis à mal par la montée en puissance de la Chine. Celle-ci ne cache pas son ambition de devenir un acteur majeur du high-tech et pour cela de remonter dans la chaîne de valeur ! Quitte à démanteler une organisation industrielle unique dans l’histoire et qui a accompagné la révolution des technologies de l’information”.
Extract (translation) : ‘…more than a rebalancing, America’s focus is on protecting its leadership in the technology sector, which has been undermined by China’s rise to prominence. China is not hiding its ambition to become a major player in high-tech and, to do so, to move up the value chain! Even if it means dismantling an industrial organization that is unique in history and that has accompanied the information technology revolution’.
[April 8, 2020] Opinion. Thomas Gomart : « La crise due au coronavirus est la première d’un monde post-américain »
Thomas Gomart. Interviewed by Marc Semo. Le Monde
Extrait : “De nouveaux acteurs ont-ils surgi ? Il y a un incontestable effet d’aubaine pour les grandes plates-formes numériques. Ce sont elles qui assurent aujourd’hui les connexions entre pays, individus et organisations… Elles sont désormais au cœur des rapports de puissance. La coopération, la compétition et la confrontation entre la Chine et les Etats-Unis se jouent notamment à travers elles ».
Extract (translation): ‘Have new players emerged? There is an undeniable windfall effect for the major digital platforms. Today, they are the ones that ensure the connections between countries, individuals and organizations… They are now at the heart of power relations. Cooperation, competition and confrontation between China and the United States are played out in particular through these platforms’.
[April 1, 2020] World needs China at the centre of supply chains more than ever.
SCMP Editorial. South China Morning Post.
Extract: ‘Supply chains developed around China at the centre must go on, especially now that Covid-19 has apparently tipped the world into recession. This would highlight China’s advantages, such as with its modern infrastructure and relatively low-cost skilled labour, in driving recovery’.
[March 31, 2020] La pandémie nous pousse à repenser notre système alimentaire.
Rachel Richterich/ Le Temps
Extrait : « L’avenir de notre sécurité alimentaire dépendra ainsi d’une refonte de notre système d’approvisionnement – un aspect dont la Confédération devra sans doute tenir compte dans sa politique agricole 2022. Mais si nous voulons consommer local, nous devrons à terme aussi faire des choix plus drastiques quant à notre alimentation ».
Extract (translation) : ‘The future of our food security will thus depend on a redesign of our supply system - an aspect that the Confederation will undoubtedly have to take into account in its 2022 agricultural policy. But if we want to consume locally, we will also have to make more drastic choices about what we eat in the long run’.
[March 27, 2020] The Coronavirus Is Demonstrating the Value of Globalization
LDavid Frum, The Atlantic
Extract: ‘The lesson of the present crisis is exactly the opposite of the “America First” approach urged by the Trump administration. It is the need to lower barriers between trusted partners, to build stronger international health organizations outside the moribund structure of the United Nations, to encourage European unity as the U.S. did from 1946 until 2016, and to return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership jettisoned by Trump’.
[March 22, 2020] Opinion. Capitalism rewired: why we must rethink how performance is measured.
Leo Johnson (Head of PwC’s disruption practice and co-presenter of BBC Radio 4 series FutureProofing), Financial Times
Extract: ‘Factoring in social and environmental costs is a sustainable way forward…. It is early days, but there is a glimmer of hope for a model of capitalism where the next endangered species becomes the externality, where capital starts to flow at scale into the estimated $26tn opportunity for sustainable investments, and where it is neither the imaginary nor the real world that any of us needs to escape from’.
[March 22, 2020] Opinion. La emergencia viral y el mundo de mañana. Byung-Chul Han, el filósofo surcoreano que piensa desde Berlín.
Byung-Chul Han, Al País
Extracto : « Los países asiáticos están gestionando mejor esta crisis que Occidente. Mientras allí se trabaja con datos y mascarillas, aquí se llega tarde y se levantan fronteras »
Extract (translation): ‘Asian countries are managing this crisis better than the West. While over there, people work with data and masks, here people arrive late and set up borders’
[March 16, 2020] Opinion Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It? The Pandemic Is Exposing Market Vulnerabilities No One Knew Existed.
Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, Foreign Affairs
Extract ‘Globalization calls for an ever-increasing specialization of labor across countries, a model that creates extraordinary efficiencies but also extraordinary vulnerabilities. Shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic reveal these vulnerabilities. Single-source providers, or regions of the world that specialize in one particular product, can create unexpected fragility in moments of crisis’
[March 22, 2020] Solidarity Now.
Joseph Stiglitz. project-syndicate.org
Extract: ‘After decades of shaping global and national economic policies according to the dictates of neoliberal ideology, public sectors are starved, climate change is accelerating, inequality is on the rise, and democracies are confronting near-unprecedented crises.’
[February 20, 2020] Opinion Will the coronavirus accelerate deglobalization?
Stephen Olson (Research Fellow at the Hinrich Foundation). South China Morning Post,
Extract: ‘Confidence in the benefits of trade and integration has suffered as trade wars highlight the risks of interdependence, and tech advances weaken the economic rationale for far-flung supply chains. The coronavirus and its disruptions might finally push the world to consider a new trading order or accelerate deglobalization.’
[January/February 2020] Opinion The Clash of Capitalisms. The Real Fight for the Global Economy’s Future
Branko Milanovic. Foreign Affairs
Extract: ‘Societies around the world have embraced the competitive and acquisitive spirit hardwired into capital- ism, without which incomes decline, poverty increases, and technological progress slows. Instead, the real battle is within capitalism, between two models that jostle against each other’.
[January/February 2020] Chained to Globalization. Why It’s Too Late to Decouple
Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman. Foreign Affairs
Extract: ‘Globalization, in short, has proved to be not a force for liberation but a new source of vulnerability, competition, and control; networks have proved to be less paths to freedom than new sets of chains’.
[January 7, 2020] L’industrie, vraie cause du ralentissement mondial.
Byung-Chul Han, Al País
Jean-Marc Vittori, Les Echos
Extrait : « Ce n’est pas la guerre commerciale menée par Donald Trump qui pèse en premier lieu sur la croissance mondiale. Ce sont les mutations à l’oeuvre dans l’industrie, du côté de la demande et des normes ».
Extract (translation): ‘It is not the trade war led by Donald Trump that is primarily affecting world growth. It is the changes in the industry, on the demand side and the standards side, that are taking place’.
[January 1, 2021] A Bigger Foreign-Policy Mess Than Anyone Predicted
Thomas Wright, The Atlantic
Extract: ‘In the 2010s, global affairs turned out far worse than the most pessimistic scenario foretold by U.S. intelligence experts… Potentially dangerous dynamics, like deglobalization, need to be managed, not enthusiastically embraced. A synthesis between the clash-of-systems school and the pragmatists may point toward a new consensus for a 2020s post-Trump foreign policy’.
[June 25, 2019] Trump’s Trade War With China Is Already Changing the World
Michael Schuman, The Atlantic
Extract: ‘Just as the meshing of the U.S. and China was representative of the greater trend toward global cooperation, their new frostiness may be equally symbolic of rising nationalism and anti-globalization fervor, present from the United Kingdom to India. How far will this redesign of global business and diplomacy progress?’.