Our thinking

Globalisation to the rescue

27 May, 2022

As Davos – habitually a celebration of all things global – comes to an end, we came across this interesting podcast that looks at the reversing of globalisation, itself a theme at this year’s Davos, against the odds.  

This isn’t the first time we hear about this recently, and in fact it has already made an appearance in an edition Friday 5 a few weeks ago. 

For years, globalisation has been the norm and countries and businesses (largely) happily operated within this boundary-less world. But now in the aftermath of the pandemic and amid war in Europe, many believe that we are starting to see the first cracks in globalisation. And it is true that the rise of populist politicians like Marine Le Pen in France or the growing focus on national self-sufficiency in the face of global food shortages seems to be pointing that way. 

But, although it has some obvious flaws, a globalised world is what is needed to answer some of the most pressing issues countries face today. A very clear example of this is climate and carbon emissions. Deglobalisation will hinder any progress here. Organising and orchestrating much-needed global carbon taxes to curb global emissions are only possible through collaboration between nations around a shared goal. 

With deglobalisation comes protectionism, and with protectionism, the chance of a global tax system or an effective unilateral approach to solving global issues, disappears. 

By Marie Guerinet