A blog discussing the macro forces shaping the global economy today and over the horizon.
As medicine advances, so does the complexity and price of healthcare. Jan Denecker takes the stage at TED@UPS to share three ways the modern healthcare industry can learn to do more with less. Jan shares his story in his TED@UPS talk featured below. Click here to learn more about Jan.
After moving from Indonesia to Pennsylvania, Amelia Laytham shunned her Indonesian heritage to assimilate to American culture. But Amelia eventually learned that she should embrace – not conceal – her upbringing. Amelia shares that story in her TED@UPS talk featured below. After watching the video, read our Q&A with Amelia where she discusses her experience giving the talk and […]
This past summer, the World Bank officially upgraded Cambodia to a “lower‑middle‑income country,” a move that confirms the country’s upwards economic trajectory during the past 20 years. But despite this new status, which Cambodia shares with 51 other economies, including India, Vietnam and the Philippines, the country is still mostly associated with darker images: landmines, civil war […]
Chinese exporters dominated the global manufacturing game for so long that it was easy to believe their domination would continue indefinitely. But the evidence is increasingly clear: The world’s second-largest economy — an economy that boomed in recent decades thanks, in large measure, to exports — needs to change the way it does business as headwinds threaten future growth. The […]
Of all the ways the world is changing, how we make things is perhaps changing most of all. The traditional manufacturing model, defined by cheaper labor, rigid supply chains and larger inventories, is evolving before our eyes. A nimbler, dare I say, smarter, strategy is emerging. Manufacturers need speed, efficiency and the ability to ramp […]
Countries that enjoy a positive world image may also reap an economic reward: more exports. According to new research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, perceptions of a country’s “positive or negative influence in the world” is directly correlated to its sales to other nations. “Countries tend to do well by doing good,” […]
In 2016, the growth of world trade will be at its slowest since the financial crisis of 2008, reports the World Trade Organization (WTO). Despite the increased protectionism that followed the crash, traditional trade barriers, such as tariffs, are at historical lows. Despite this, the flow of goods and services between countries remains one of […]
It may be one of the world’s most bike-friendly cities, but Amsterdam could do more to improve its air quality, according to a report that grades efforts by European cities to cut transport emissions. The study gave Amsterdam a D+ rating last year. This was partly because, unlike other European cities, the Dutch capital has […]
In the past decade, renewable energy growth has broken records year after year, and 2015 was a remarkable one for developing countries. For the first time in history, according to the United Nations Environmental Program, total investment in renewables exceeded that in developed economies, driven in part by national policies and the improving cost-competitiveness of […]
Transportation and logistics bellwether UPS recently announced that Cindy Miller was named as the company’s president of global freight forwarding. A 28-year UPS veteran, Miller was president of UPS Europe, where she oversaw all UPS operations in more than 120 countries and territories across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Miller held that position […]
The following is based on a speech given by UPS Chief Executive Officer David Abney at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s Global Impact Awards event on April 20, 2016. Trade isn’t getting much love these days. Maybe you’ve noticed. I read the other day that trade bashing has replaced kissing babies as the most […]
Christopher Kennedy, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto, has one suggestion for how the world can start to solve the problem of climate change: transform the world’s megacities. Megacities are teeming metropolises that have populations of at least 10 million people. They include Indian cities like Mumbai and Delhi, where transportation […]
When Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, in September, he showed off not just a new version of the company’s iPhone, the iPhone 6 and 6S, but also an entirely new device for Apple — the Apple Watch. The watch seeks to become a part of […]
China’s slowing growth has dominated global economic news this year – and for good reason. Beyond being the world’s second-largest economy, China is the largest manufacturer and consumer of raw materials; so any sign of weakening there is bad news for the global economy. But, while concerns about growth certainly merit attention, they should be […]
We are experiencing a battle of ideas regarding the state of the global economy and prospects for growth. Larry Summers has been leading the group of economists proclaiming that the world entered an era of secular stagnation since the global financial crisis. On the other end, Standard Chartered Bank and other players have been arguing […]
For several years, Chinese leaders have been pursuing economic “rebalancing.” The country’s longstanding growth model, based on investment and exports, is to be replaced by one based on services and domestic consumption. It’s a necessary transition for China. Unfortunately, consumption-led growth remains a distant prospect. Yes, the contribution of domestic consumption to GDP has risen […]
The lives of billions of people, for centuries to come, will be at stake when world leaders and government negotiators meet at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris at the end of the month. The fate of an unknown number of endangered species of plants and animals also hangs in the balance. At […]
It is not just how customers search for products online, but where they live, that can provide valuable information about consumer trends. This is data that logistics companies are mining to provide a clearer blueprint for how to thrive in a world where the line between brick-and-mortar stores and digital is increasingly blurred. The rise […]
The monstrous 8.6-magnitude earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan spawned a tsunami that surged 4 kilometers inland, obliterating towns and farms across a huge swathe of the Japanese countryside. As I describe in my new book The Power of Resilience: How the Best Companies Manage the Unexpected (MIT Press, October 2015), that earthquake took […]
Leave it to the high-tech industry to finally find the right use for 3D printers, a futurist technology that has fired imaginations for more than three decades even as it struggled to find its practical niche in commercial or consumer markets. New data from UPS reveal that 70 percent of high-tech companies have at least […]
In an increasingly congested world, the transportation industry is up against unrelenting pressure to facilitate the free flow of goods. Traffic congestion in cities worldwide is a major problem. Unfortunately, the issue is compounding as cities grow and car ownership rates increase. However, there are numerous opportunities for forward-looking companies capable of delivering solutions to […]
We’re at a crossroads in global trade, one that can usher in a golden era for Asia’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, initiated during the global economic downturn in 2009, finally concluded this month in Atlanta. The nations involved – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, […]
This was a big week for trade. More importantly, this was a big week for expanding economic opportunity around the world. The United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim nations reached an agreement this week on the largest regional trade accord in history. The pact, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, links roughly 40 percent […]
This is part of a series on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, in collaboration with the Stockholm Resilience Centre. This article focuses on goal 9 – Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. Sustainable Development Goal 9 calls for resilient infrastructure and inclusive, sustainable industrialization, and also refers to the need to […]
Big-city airports aren’t just massive travel hubs today; they’re also evolving into critical nodes of the 24/7 global economy — creating jobs, connecting workers and suppliers, and building infrastructure. Their enlarged role is seeding communities in the way that maritime ports once defined landmark shipping destinations such as Hong Kong, Hamburg and Rotterdam. Welcome to […]
In the early 1990s, when I was Prime Minister of Norway, I once found myself debating sustainable development with an opposition leader who insisted that I tell him the government’s single most important priority in that field. Frustrated, I replied that what he was asking was impossible to answer. I concluded our exchange by explaining […]
Jack Ma was an English teacher of modest means. He had little business experience and few connections in the Chinese government. Yet he launched an internet company that became the $216 billion market behemoth Alibaba. People often point to entrepreneurs’ resources and personal connections, but Jack Ma had neither. Or consider Elon Musk, who dropped […]
For all the recent talk of China’s stockmarket volatility and lower than expected growth, the Asian giant has firmly cemented its position as the world’s second-largest economy, a spot it took from Japan less than five years ago. In fact, if some commentators are to be believed, it could even be on track to dethrone […]
We are entering a new economic cycle; call it Globalization 2.0. For the past two decades, the driving force behind globalization was the gap in the price of labor between the developed world and emerging markets. Several events further enabled this labor cost movement: the end of the Cold War, emergence of the Internet, proliferation […]
It’s a dream in many countries, but a reality in only a few: to create the next Google, Airbnb or Wikimedia. So far though, it seems as if this dream is almost exclusively an American affair. Why is this the case? Could the next example be from, say, India or France? To answer that question, it’s interesting […]
