Megatrends

A New Era of Globalization

Shifting Oppo­­­rtunities in a Dual-Track World

INTRODUCTION

In national elections around the world, one theme dominated almost universally: dissatisfaction with a global economy that favors others over us. On the surface, swirling headlines around tariffs and fracturing supply chains would suggest the high-speed globalization train has been utterly derailed. However, the world has entered a new era where globalization has essentially splintered into two distinct tracks.

  • Track 1: A narrow set of industries deemed to be of vital national security or strategic importance, from energy to semiconductors and AI. This track of globalization has sharply decelerated, if not come to a sputtering halt altogether.
  • Track 2: A vast array of cross-border goods and services such as apparel and consumer electronics, gets less attention in sensationalist media stories but still represents a majority of global GDP.

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