Trade and resilience - 40 minutes
Resilience vs Efficiency
Efficiency removes spare capacity and duplication; resilience deliberately buys some of them back as insurance.
The system in one line
See the connection before the detail.
- Specialization↓
- Lower normal cost↓
- Concentration↓
- Shock exposure↓
- Costly redundancy
What you will be able to see
You will be able to compare concentration, diversification, inventories and local production without assuming one is always best.
The sequence
One Lever prepares the next.
- 01↓trade - 5 min
Why do countries trade instead of producing everything themselves?
Begin with the gains that make specialization worth pursuing.
Open this Lever - 02↓trade - 5 min
Why do ports and logistics hubs create economic power?
See how scale and connectivity create efficient but concentrated trade nodes.
Open this Lever - 03↓trade - 5 min
How can a ship stuck far away raise prices here?
Observe how efficient flows can depend on a narrow route.
Open this Lever - 04↓trade - 5 min
Why is moving a supply chain harder than moving a factory?
See why resilience cannot be created by relocating one building.
Open this Lever - 05↓technology - 5 min
Why are governments subsidising semiconductor factories?
Evaluate public attempts to buy local capability and strategic insurance.
Open this Lever - 06↓trade - 5 min
Why does industrial overcapacity create trade conflict?
Examine when supported capacity shifts adjustment costs across borders.
Open this Lever - 07↓technology - 5 min
Why are critical minerals becoming geopolitical leverage?
Separate supplier counts from genuinely independent alternatives.
Open this Lever - 08↓energy - 5 min
Why did Europe depend so heavily on Russian gas?
Finish with a real case of efficiency, infrastructure and costly adjustment.
Open this Lever