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Jon Anda

A must read for The White House economics team...

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2017

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I agree with the author’s insight that we’re at a potentially disruptive moment where relying on dated assumptions about globalization might underpin losing strategies. While the book is a terrific macro read for corporate planners - as I read it I mostly feared how poorly the various economic anachronisms of POTUS would fair in the regionalized/local world the author envisions (let alone the author’s highlights on the readiness of countries like Japan, South Korea, and China). I hope copies make it to Gary Cohn’s team...

Dougie Fresh

Is it waning or ebbing?

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2019

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The author makes some very good points about globalization being on the wane. In my 25 years experience being a software developer I've seen globalization in tech very much ebb and flow. At first it was all local, then there was a big push to outsource to overseas contractors in India and Eastern Europe, then it retracted and came back on-shore when people realized the perceived gains just weren't there and the cost of outsourcing, especially as countries joined the EU increased and then lately the big players seem to just open offices over there and make people employees instead of contracting.

More in line with the subject of the book, I've definitely seen a big push especially in the touristy area I live in for lots of local items - farm to table, produce, things made by hand locally. Of course, there's the whole "freedom fries" effect - rah rah made in the USA - so much of it all is about marketing. I would definitely LOVE to see things like 3D printing make it so complex items can be made locally. Certainly the cost of transportation, carbon footprint, etc. would benefit from tech that makes it easier to make things locally.

So, is it really on the wane? Or is it more of an ebb. I feel it's more the latter and it will like continue to ebb and flow, contract and expand, as technologies and attitudes change but I will definitely defer to the author's research vs. my population of 1 experience. The author's points are well thought out, researched and intelligent not reactionary or rhetoric (very refreshing!) so it's definitely worth a read and consideration of the author's perspective.

Wilderness Family

Technology Drives The Retreat From Globalization To Local Production

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2018

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This book will not be for everyone. It's not particularly thick at 180 pages, but it is packed with economic and political facts and observations about where we've come from and where we go from here. The author is Finbarr Livesey, senior lecturer at Cambridge. He says his book is not for or against globalization or localization. Instead, it documents history and observes the challenges ahead.

Times are changing fast. Politically, in the US and elsewhere, we've seen the pendulum swing back from the rush towards "inevitable hyper-globalization," to economic nationalism. International manufacturing and trade will be subject to new criteria. The causes are partially political, but more than that, they are technological. Much of the old globalization was driven by the need for cheap labor. Now, the cost of salaries is not as critical a factor as are advances in technology. These continue to give us breakthroughs in automation including robotics, collaboration through various media driven by the internet, and the ability to "print" (manufacture) a host of new products right where you are, utilizing 3D printers.

"Hyper-globalization is dead," Livesey concludes, and adds a quotation from the McKinsey Global Institute: "...an entrepreneur in Nairobi, Nuremberg or Nanjing today has the ability to leverage e-commerce platforms such as Amazon or Alibaba and create a 'micro-multinational' offering products around the world, printed digitally, and delivered by drone."

David Wineberg

Globalisation fading - all by itself

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017

Compared to the mid-1800s, there are now six times as many people, making 60 times as much stuff, with 140 times as much international trade, says Finbarr Livesey. Trade has become enormous, changing the way we live. Yet the ratio of trade to GDP has flatlined since 2011. He says we will likely see a fall of 20-30% in merchandise trade in the next decade. What does this mean?

To Livesey, it means local is back. He has identified a number of factors that favor local production:
-Better design is reducing the number of parts per product, speeding up assembly and making local production economical again.
-3D printing will allow local production of numerous components, for much faster delivery.
-Robots and artificial intelligence software are poised to eliminate jobs by the thousands, taking away the Far East’s biggest advantage - cheap labor.
-Slow delivery from the Far East is becoming less and less acceptable, resulting in a trend of fabrication in and for local/regional markets. (Some 2000 Chinese-affiliated companies have opened in the USA, employing 90,000 Americans, presumably because the Chinese have seen the handwriting on the wall.)

That’s the essence of From Global to Local. Unfortunately, it is not easy to pull those facts from the book. Livesey goes off on tangents and offers viewpoints that don’t prove his thesis. He spends too many pages explaining the Economic Complexity Index, the pricing of oil, the upswing in Chinese merger and acquisition activity, the upsurge of nationalism in French and American elections ….. And there are no takeaways from any of it.

The return to local has implications for trade agreements, and movements like Brexit. Perhaps the UK and the USA can go it alone after all. Unfortunately, the book does not follow this path. It should have made a provocative final chapter.

So what does it all mean? While globalization has moved thousands to protest, and Donald Trump to propose new tariffs, if you pay attention to Livesey’s numbers, globalization is already on the wane. It seems to be subject to a law much higher than GATT, WTO, or NAFTA. It is subject to the law of supply and demand.

David Wineberg

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S K.

Interesting!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2017

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Really good book with a great take on the changing face of manufacturing and globalisation. A Good read for anyone who invests so you can help make more informed choices and also anyone who works in manufacturing and how to position yourself.

David

Must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 7, 2019

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Well written, fascinating insight into the real picture behind the lazy headlines on globalisation.

giuliano merlo

Brilliant

Reviewed in Italy on April 4, 2018

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Exceptional analysis to explain the forces behind globalization.
The author is able to explain xompkex concepts in very few paragraph using a simple narrative style
I definitely reccomend this book

Amazon Customer

Must Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2017

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Super, things are a changing.

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