Henry Farrell

Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It? – with Abraham Newman

The new coronavirus is shaping up to be an enormous stress test for globalization. As critical supply chains break down, and nations hoard medical supplies and rush to limit travel, the crisis is forcing a major reevaluation of the interconnected global economy. Not only has globalization allowed for the rapid spread of contagious disease but it has fostered deep interdependence between firms and nations that makes them more vulnerable to unexpected shocks. Now, firms and nations alike are discovering just how vulnerable they are.

But the lesson of the new coronavirus is not that globalization failed. The lesson is that

Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, “Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It?,” Foreign Affairs (online), March 16, 2020.

Access the full article here.

Other Writing:

Essay

Large Language Models Will Upend Human Rituals – with Marion Fourcade

September 4, 2024 The Economist with Marion Fourcade
ARTHUR C. CLARKE wrote a story in which the entire universe was created so that monks could ritually write out the nine billion names of God. The monks buy a computer to do this faster and better, with unfortunate consequences for the rest of us. The story’s last sentence: “Overhead, without any fuss, the stars ...
Read Article
Essay

Choke Points – with Abraham Newman

January 1, 2020 Harvard Business Review with Abraham Newman
Since the end of the Cold War, businesses have built an awe-inspiring global infrastructure. Digital pipelines move vast amounts of capital and data around the world, and supply chains crisscross international boundaries in a spider web of commerce. An intricate system of networks keeps the global economy running smoothly, but it’s easy to take for ...
Read Article
Browse the Archives