Globalization is in retreat, and multinationals are on the defensive. Across the world, countries rich and poor have erected trade barriers and set up outright export bans to cope with the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In 2020, respirators, surgical gowns, medicines, and other lifesaving equipment were hard to come by. Two years later, it’s wheat, palm oil, beef, and other food products — and that’s not including other items related to the sanctions that nations have imposed on Russia.
Citing national interest, governments have reclaimed much of the power multinationals had acquired over decades of almost unfettered globalization. The tilt in the balance of power can be traced back to the 2008 global financial crisis, when banks and corporations had to be bailed out by governments with taxpayers’…
