Policy brief

April 7th, 2022

McGill University

The Vulnerabilities of
Relaunching Globalization
After the Pandemic
Written by Serena Pollmueller, ID: 230930962

Executive Summary
The coronavirus instigated a global crisis affecting many important economic factors. One of

those being globalization. Otherwise described as the global exchange of goods, technology,

information, and jobs between businesses, globalization was already a process of complex

nature. This policy brief’s goal is to focus on the coronavirus pandemic’s negative impact on

globalization and the policy measures that should be taken to relaunch it. The first policy

approach is to create more secure global rules for cross-border externalities such as trade.

The second policy recommendation is to launch better social insurance and protection for the

working population. Both policy recommendations will be addressed and explained later in

this brief.

Context
Internationally, businesses and nations completely shut down due to the virus which caused

an even more significant interdependence between them. Globalization has always been a

system of reliance between countries to maintain the world’s economy. Firms have globally

confided in supply chains that now structure many global production networks. (Farrell et al,

2020) This system has made it easier for countries to control all the goods and components

their economies require. Due to the pandemic, these national economies have faced several

challenges. From critical supply shortages to employment insecurity, the pandemic has
amplified the effects of globalization, specifically to some of its most vulnerable sectors. As

the virus spread, there was crucial demand for medical supplies from countries everywhere in

the world. For example, the urgent need for masks sent China, the main global mask

provider, into a supply shortage. Other medical supply manufacturers around the world were

also being overwhelmed by demand. Essentially, this issue resulted in the collapse of global

supply chains which created competition for resources between countries. Moreover,

employment policies also need to be taken into consideration. Once the pandemic went

global, millions of people lost their jobs. For globalization’s success in the future,

government policies surrounding social insurance, more specifically employment security,

need to be improved and provided to the working population.

Critique and policy recommendations

For the relaunch of globalization, the cross-border policies need to be changed especially in

terms of trade. The improvement of trade policies could better the world’s economy by

rebuilding the supply chains. Furthermore, government policies need to focus on providing

people with social insurance due to the impact the pandemic has caused on globalization.

(Stiglitz, 2017) There is a huge advantage to having people move around the world to work.

It benefits international business and the people who are a part of this global employment

web. In the next section of this brief, I will be listing out two policy recommendations for the

relaunch of globalization after the pandemic.

Recommendation 1: Focus on trade policies

Governments should focus on interdependencies between countries because global public

goods are significant to our international economy thriving. The world benefits from global

security, global health, and knowledge. (Stiglitz, 2017) Globalization offers all these

components and can control how well our economy will do in the future. To specify,
international trade allows global security, health, and knowledge to be shared between

countries. A policy measure should be in place to facilitate trade around the world. While

globalization is slowly making a comeback, trade agreements would keep an open world

economy. (Clausing, 2019) It could provide people with health needs and companies with

more globalized opportunities. Firms and nations have recognized that globalization and trade

generate economic potential. Essentially, it fosters efficiency and innovation which in time of

extreme vulnerability – like during a pandemic - are desperately needed. (Clausing, 2019)

Cross-border policies like those for trade need to be implemented because it will provide

access to health needs, new job creation and business networking to nations around the world.

(Stiglitz, 2017) Since countries became so deeply interdependent during the pandemic, the

relaunch of globalization and better policy application of international trade will allow supply

chains to start back up and offer countries access to their needs again. Also, it will decrease

some nations supply shortages and the competition between countries for those resources.

(Farrell et al., 2020)

Recommendation 2: Create better social insurance policies

Global governance should implement a secure social insurance system for people who are

struggling in the workforce. A significant amount of people lost their jobs due to the

pandemic. This is one of the challenges the working population faces due to globalization as

well. (Siegmann et al, 2016) For globalization to be reinstated properly, governments need to

make sure that the working population is safe from employment insecurity. The global

exchange of employment allows businesses to thrive internationally. Therefore, it increases

opportunities for workers around the globe. For example, in the US, immigrants have brought

essential benefits to American business. It’s been proven that they boost economic growth,

innovation, and entrepreneurship. (Clausing, 2019) Even though, these are all advantages to

globalization, people want to ensure they’re safe from easily losing their jobs. Therefore, to
relaunch globalization properly, governments should foster better social insurance policies

for people who lost their jobs to Covid-19. Moreover, job retraining programs are an

important part to reintroducing productive employment to people from all over the world.

(Stiglitz, 2017) Social protection policies are significant for those who aren’t as successful at

getting a job once globalizations relaunches. Perhaps, through a new form of insurance more

people will want to travel the globe if their guaranteed secure work. This would benefit

international business and fuel the world’s economy. Overall, the relaunch of globalization

needs to be taken carefully to combat insecure work. (Siegmann et al., 2016)

Closing paragraph

To summarize, the pandemic caused many vulnerabilities to appear due to the economic

crisis it created. It affected the process of globalization which made many countries and

companies came to realize how interdependent they are of each other. As a result, their

vulnerabilities arose, supply chains broke down and millions of people lost their jobs. To

improve the world’s situation, I’ve suggested two different ways to reinstall globalization

with care. The first is to prioritize trade policies to relaunch international business and the

world’s economy. The second is to implement better social insurance policies to create better

employment security for the working population that found themselves jobless due to the

pandemic.
References

Karin Astrid Siegmann. Understanding the globalizing precariat: From informal sector to

precarious work, Progress in Development Studies 16, 2 (2016) pp. 111–123

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1464993415623118

Kimberley Clausing. Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global

Capital. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 2019.

Joseph E. Stiglitz. Globalization and Its Discontents: Anti-Globalization in the Era of

Trump. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2017.

Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, “Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know

It? The Pandemic Is Exposing Market Vulnerabilities No One Knew Existed”, 16

March 2020, Foreign Affairs