The COVID-19 pandemic raised alarms across the world on many fronts. Fears of a new virus running rampant, first and foremost. But as the world locked down in a bid to control the virus' spread, other concerns arose, like securing face masks and ventilators, computer chips and car parts-and even toilet paper. Exposed by the pandemic was the tenuous nature of the worldwide supply chain. NEW YORK TIMES global economics correspondent Peter S. Goodman explores these fault lines and how they came to exist in his new book, HOW THE WORLD RAN OUT OF EVERYTHING (Mariner, June). In this excerpt, Goodman analyzes how, decades earlier, businesses worldwide began to rely on China to improve their bottom line by providing cheap labor for manufacturing and an expansive market of consumers, culminating in widespread offshoring and just-in-time shipping-with no safety net.
EVEN FOR A FIGURE INCLINED toward impromptu displays of showmanship, Bill Clinton outdid himself inside the massive banquet hall in the heart of Beijing.
It was a balmy night in June 1998, and the president was in the midst of alternately wooing and pressuring China's government to assent to American terms on a deal bringing the nation into the World Trade Organization. He and then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton were attending a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People, the colonnaded fortress occupying the western edge of Tiananmen Square.
Only nine years earlier, the square had been the locus of an extraordinary protest movement led by students who demanded greater freedom. The People's Liberation Army put down the uprising with a massacre that killed several hundred people. That act of brutality had defined China in international discourse for years after. But China's pariah status was already fading as Western executives salivated over the lucrative opportunities waiting to be exploited there. The Clintons were in Beijing in the service of that cause.
Esta historia es de la edición June 21 - 28, 2024 (Double Issue) de Newsweek US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 21 - 28, 2024 (Double Issue) de Newsweek US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Ray Romano
\"I read about three scripts, and at the end of each there was a little twist, a little turn, [and] it was funny.\"
Has J.K. Rowling Won the Culture War?
After years of backlash over trans issues, the Harry Potter author has received major business backing
Nothin' Lasts Forever
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour' ends its record-breaking run..
SPY IN THE SKY
CHINA FACES ACCUSATIONS of ESPIONAGE and WEAPONIZING OUTER SPACE as it BUILDS a NEW OBSERVATORY in CHILE critics say WILL BE USED for MILITARY PURPOSES
'This Murder Is a Symbol of the Times'
Conservatives and liberals agree on the state of the health care industry following the killing of Brian Thompson
The Defense Industry's Fight With ESG
EUROPEAN DEFENSE COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY smaller businesses, are being blocked from investment they sorely need by sustainability rules, a senior NATO official and several industry figures have said.
Margo Martindale
Jamie Lee [Curtis, producer] called me and she says, \"Jamie Lee Curtis here. I have a project for you. And you're gonna do it.\"
Malala Yousafzai
\"AFGHANISTAN IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE world where girls are banned from access to education and women are limited from work.\"
In the Eyes of the Law
Jude Law is unrecognizable as an FBI agent on the trail of aneo-Naziterrorist group in real-crime drama The Order
Gonzo Intelligence
Instead of keeping a low profile, Moscow's spies are embracing the limelight and even being welcomed home by Vladimir Putin after their cover is blown