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The New 'Glocal' Economy

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Going “Glocal.” We’ll look at local economies stepping up in an era of globalization.

Worker Jose David, of Revere, Mass., left, trims the sole of a shoe during the assembly process at the New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. factory in Boston, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. (AP)
Worker Jose David, of Revere, Mass., left, trims the sole of a shoe during the assembly process at the New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. factory in Boston, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. (AP)

For a long, long stretch, globalization has felt like a one-way street. The world was flat, we were told, and American jobs were rolling abroad.

Well, there’s a little more friction in the system these days. Building everything on the far side of China doesn’t always sound like such a great idea. Within the great global arena, more people and companies are thinking local again. That could mean protectionism and shrinkage. It could mean a blossoming of local talent and jobs.

This hour, On Point: look homeward, angel. We’re looking local in the global economy.
- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Rana Foroohar, assistant managing editor in charge of economics and business for TIME.  Her big piece on "glocalization" is headlined: "The Economy's New Rules: Go Glocal."

Zachary Karabell, economist and president of River Twice Research.

From Tom's Reading List:

TIME "As products roll off the line at Caterpillar’s recently expanded East Peoria, Ill., factory, every one is marked with a flag that designates its final destination. There are a lot of Chinese, Indian and Australian flags. But there are plenty of American ones too, and their numbers are growing."

New York Times "The dairy farms that once draped the countryside here were paved over so the Japanese carmaker Nissan could build its first American assembly plant. Eighty miles to the south, another green pasture was replaced by a Nissan engine factory, and across Tennessee about 100 Nissan suppliers dot the landscape, making steel in Murfreesboro, air conditioning units in Lewisburg, transmission parts in Portland."

The Daily Beast "Friday's jobs report was immediately heralded as a strong rebound from months of weak employment growth. With the jobless rate at 8.3 percent, barely changed from 8.2 percent last month, financial markets, ever fickle and always flighty, staged a relief rally after a week of disappointments that the central banks of the world were not swooping in cavalry-like to the rescue."

This program aired on August 15, 2012.

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