The Price of Maximum Efficiency

In recent decades, the world has pursued one main goal in the economy – maximum efficiency.

In recent decades, the world has pursued one main goal in the economy – maximum efficiency. Production "just in time", very long and very cheap supply chains, outsourcing to low-cost countries, and then importing into rich markets – all this happened thanks to globalization and led to very good growth in corporate profits. But this also comes at a price.

This is what Georgi Vuldjev warned about on "Facebook".

The COVID-19 pandemic most vividly showed what this price is - the loss of resilience. The lack of masks and medical equipment at the beginning of the pandemic was a direct result of globalized, efficient, but crisis-resistant supply chains. For years after that, there was a global shortage of various industrial products and materials such as chips, steel, aluminum, wood, etc.

When something that is produced in, for example, Germany needs components that are imported not just from various other countries, but also from various other continents, any restriction or delay in production or trade flow on the other side of the world can suddenly turn out to be a very big problem for the German factory.

The erosion of sustainability due to globalization also manifests itself in other ways. For example, in the quality of the physical goods that we use every day. Do you remember mobile phones that lasted 5+ years? The jokes about those from Nokia? Today you change your smartphone every 2-3 years, because after that it is unusable. Do you remember the furniture from the time of your parents or grandparents? How much more massive and durable wood was it made of? Not to mention home appliances. I recently replaced a 1990s washing machine that had been working for over 25 years! Will the new one last as long?

I think it's reasonable to ask ourselves whether we haven't gone too far into the extremes of globalization and trade connectivity, to the point where everything is produced in an extremely efficient but also extremely unsustainable way?

The criticism of protectionist politicians like Trump is precisely along the lines of the fact that his policies will lead to a loss of economic efficiency. Higher costs, lower profits for companies and everything that follows. Including, probably, higher prices in the long run. This criticism is completely valid.

But there is another side to the coin. From a sustainability perspective, such policies can actually be positive. And as long as they are not overdone, a certain degree of deglobalization and reshoring of production capacities can improve the balance between sustainability and efficiency in the global economy, which in my opinion has lurched too far into the latter extreme.