Global trade slump may lead to productivity slowdown

New York

SOMETHING a little worrying has happened to the global economy: Trade is slowing down.

Since the end of World War II, the world has grown steadily more globalised. Trade has grown faster than global gross domestic product itself. Supply chains have lengthened. Companies have become more multinational. The rate of globalisation reached a fever pitch in the 1990s and early 2000s.