Fact-checking the deglobalisation narrative

LONDON – “The left and the right united shall never be defeated,” claimed the Chilean poet Nicanor Parra, and the current debate over deglobalisation illustrates the point. So-called progressives never liked fast growth in world trade and now greet any reversal with cries of “I told you so!” Globalisation-supporting conservatives, on the other hand, react to the smallest setback with Chicken Little-like cries that “the sky is falling!”

Both camps have an interest in exaggerating the extent of deglobalisation. The result is a widely accepted narrative of decline: After repeated financial crises, a nativist reaction, the Covid-19 pandemic, and now Russia’s war on Ukraine, globalisation’s days are numbered.

It’s an eye-catching claim. But is it true?