Globalisation: the rise and fall of an idea that swept the world
Honestly, for all the hand-wringing over globalization, I think it has been a necessary stopgap for the wholesale destruction of low-skilled jobs by automation that&#x27;s coming in the next few decades. It&#x27;s forced us to recognize the problems over the last several decades: the structure of human civilization is changing quickly, and people don&#x27;t adapt that fast.<p>Regardless of the societal cost, companies individually have to retain competitive advantage &#x2F; parity. Automation will be a boon for individual companies, which means it will be an arms race among competitors in an industry. Tragedy of the commons and all.<p>So it doesn&#x27;t matter if globalization is good or bad. It is our reality because individual companies will always be looking to gain an advantage whether that&#x27;s through offshoring or automation. The impact of automation will be far worse for the individual in society than the impact of globalization.<p>All of this leads to even more wealth inequality as the value in the economy is increasingly captured by capital rather than labor. I think we&#x27;re in for a messy few decades as we figure out how to restructure our societal institutions to work in the new world.