Throwing globalization into reverse has forced big changes in corporate strategy. Resilience has become the new buzzword, replacing the just-in-time strategy that led many companies to save costs by reducing inventory and relying on efficient global distribution networks to source components and get products to customers on time. After several years of supply chain disruptions and a new round of COVID-19 lockdowns in China, companies are building up costly inventory to protect themselves. In Canada, for example, warehouse space is nearly exhausted. Montreal Port Authority CEO Martin Imbleau told Bloomberg that companies are now “buying stock not three weeks, not three months, but six months ahead of time and storing it somewhere.” Resilience may be the only sensible strategy in the current global environment, but it will be a costly one for companies and consumers.
My War on Globalism 25
