Cambridge is a major hub in Massachusetts’ life sciences ecosystem. What makes up the DNA of vibrant biopharma and medical device industries? Trade associations, overseas governments and investors, and U.S. government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels are all part of the prescription for economic growth.
U.S. footwear production dates as far back as 1750, but today 98 percent of shoes are manufactured abroad. Historically, footwear tariffs have been out of step with the United States’ general approach to free trade. High tariffs on products like shoes hit low-income families the hardest – particularly those with children – as these families spend the highest share of their incomes on home goods that tend to be imported.
AI is already changing global value chains and international trade patterns. Trade rules crafted today in the WTO or free trade agreements will play a critical role in further shaping how AI is further developed and deployed globally.
E-commerce allows us to order anything around the world with just an Internet connection and the click of a button. As digital trade has expanded, so have barriers like data localization. International trade rules are still racing to catch up with an increasingly digitally connected world.
Technology has enabled us to tap into a global labor pool of remote workers anywhere in the world there’s a good Internet connection. 48 million workers registered their services on online outsourcing sites in 2013, according to the World Bank.
Manufacturers of labor-intensive products like apparel have already been looking elsewhere in Asia as labor costs continue to rise in China. China has not substantially increased market access for foreign investors in many sectors, causing foreign investment to slow or flatline in recent years. With lingering doubts about the worsening investment climate in China, the trade war is hastening decision-making that had already been underway.
Tencent and Alibaba are names you need to know. They are leaders among China’s five Big Tech firms. They are growing fast and starting to rival American giants Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Facebook. Whoever among these giants acquires the most consumer information on habits, preferences, spending patterns, and financial behaviors stands to win in our growing global digital economy.
At some point between the start of the Thanksgiving holiday and Cyber Monday, did you reach for your credit card or use another secure payment system like PayPal to make a purchase online? You’re in good company: 259 million Americans routinely buy online. Last year, internet sales in China on “Single’s Day” reached $25.3 billion — $6 billion more than what Americans purchased online over the entire Thanksgiving weekend. In the future, the whole world just might be cashless.
Jayme Smaldone noticed that knockoffs of his Mighty Mug were selling on e-Bay for very cheap and included free shipping. But for his company, the cost was about $6.30 to ship the same (original) mug from their New Jersey warehouse to a U.S. location, even one across the street. How could that be?
A community’s store of “social capital” can determine how well it rebounds from adversity.