July 3, 2022 — Some new problems have afflicted the economy in the last year. Two examples come from the US: blockages in supply chain logistics and a critical shortage in infant milk formula. One problem applies to the EU even more than to the US: energy scarcity due to sanctions against Russian fossil fuel exports. And one applies almost everywhere: inflation.
Some have associated these four problems with what is said to be excessive dependence on international trade, that is, with globalization. Consequently, deglobalization, fragmentation, reshoring, friend-shoring, decoupling, and resilience have become popular buzzwords. The feeling is that individual countries would not have been so exposed to shocks if they had been more self-sufficient.