The big story from Davos is that globalization is in swift retreat. And that may well be what the insiders are saying to each other in speeches and at exclusive private parties. From the world outside the peaks of Switzerland, though, what I am seeing is that globalization, all things considered, is likely accelerating.
Take free trade. Though Donald Trump seems to be calling off his latest trade war, the United States has indeed retreated from free trade with a new era of tariffs. It’s a development I rue. But Canada just opened its market to Chinese cars. So Trump did in fact find the recipe to nudge an oft-protectionist Canada toward freer trade, though it is the opposite of what he might have been wishing for. Soon, Canada will have access to better and cheaper electric cars than what we can get in the United States. And even if you think that spyware could make those cars a security risk in Washington, D.C., due to spying possibilities, I am less worried about their proliferation in Quebec and Nova Scotia. Keep them out of Ottawa if need be.
