Banning Garrett

How Technology Is Driving Us Toward Peak Globalization

The Next Economy / At some point in the future — and in some ways, we are already seeing this — the amount of physical stuff moving around the world will peak and begin to decline. By “stuff,” I am referring to liquid fuels, coal, containers on ships, food, raw materials, products, etc. New technologies are moving us toward “production-at-the-point-of-consumption” of energy, food and products with reduced reliance on a global supply chain. The trade of physical stuff has been central to globalization as we’ve known it. So, this declining movement of stuff may signal we are approaching “peak globalization.” - 6 years ago