Globality

After being greatly inspired by “The Entrepreneurial State”, I was thrilled to discover that Mariana Mazzucato‎ had written a new book about how the blurriness of the global economy has made it more difficult to determine what and who is actually creating value.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak has clearly put the spotlight on how economically integrated our world has become. Just the other day, Carbon Brief put out a new report showing that global emissions are already down by 100 MtC02 as coal consumption in China has plummeted in the wake of the epidemic.

With new outbreaks in Korea, Italy and Iran, I fear it has become increasingly difficult to prevent a full-out pandemic. If so, it will be the first time since the Hong Kong flu of 1968 (which I still remember my grandmother telling me about) and, given how globalized and risk-averse the world has become, it may end up having far-reaching political and economic repercussions. Already now, domestic air travel in China is down by 70% and both Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have announced significant cuts.