Greater rewards for those who trade with the digitally distant rich
Trading with poor neighbours will not yield the lucrative benefits of selling to wealth clusters around the globe
Tucked between the lines of articles about tariffs is a reminder that the global economy has been subtly, yet profoundly, reconfigured. That this is underappreciated is evident from hopes being expressed of having African consumers help fuel SA’s growth.
International trade has pummelled global poverty — but at the cost of narrowing options for the remaining high-poverty areas. Not so long ago, isolated villagers could make durable goods, such as furniture, while others produced food and clothes. Career prospects were meagre but so were barriers to employment. Then industrialisation, followed by globalisation, provided high-trajectory upliftment paths by increasing productivity to the point that small teams today can rarely compete with mass-produced imported goods...
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