最高效率的價格

近幾十年來，全世界在經濟中追求了一個主要目標 - 最高效率。

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.

近幾十年來，全世界在經濟中追求了一個主要目標 - 最高效率。生產“正好及時”，非常漫長且非常便宜的供應鏈，將其外包給低成本國家，然後進口到富裕的市場中 - 這一切都歸功於全球化，並導致了公司利潤的增長。但這也是有代價的。

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

這就是Georgi Vuldjev在“ Facebook”上警告的。

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.

19009年的大流行最為生動地表明了這個價格是什麼 - 彈性喪失。大流行開始時缺乏口罩和醫療設備是全球化，高效但抗危機的供應鏈的直接結果。此後多年，全球缺乏各種工業產品和材料，例如芯片，鋼，鋁，木材等。

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.

例如，當德國需要不僅從其他各個國家進口的組件，而且還需要從其他各大洲進口時，世界另一端的生產或貿易流量的任何限製或延遲可能會突然成為德國工廠的一個很大問題。

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?

由於全球化引起的可持續性侵蝕也以其他方式表現出來。例如，以我們每天使用的物理商品的質量。您還記得持續了5年以上的手機嗎？關於諾基亞的笑話？今天，您每2 - 3年更換一次智能手機，因為之後是無法使用的。您還記得父母或祖父母時代以來家具嗎？它製成了多少巨大和耐用的木材？更不用說家用電器了。我最近取代了一台已經工作了25年以上的1990年代洗衣機！新的會持續嗎？

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?

我認為，問自己是否還沒有走得太遠，這是合理的，以至於一切都以極其有效但非常不可持續的方式產生的地步是合理的？

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.

像特朗普這樣的貿易保護主義政治家的批評正是他的政策將導致經濟效率喪失的事實。成本更高，公司的利潤較低以及隨後的一切。從長遠來看，可能包括更高的價格。這種批評是完全有效的。

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.

但是硬幣還有另一面。從可持續性的角度來看，這些政策實際上可以是積極的。而且，只要它們不是過高的，生產能力的一定程度可以改善全球經濟的可持續性與效率之間的平衡，在我看來，這已經使這太遙遠了。