"Questioning and criticizing globalization has gone beyond narrowly ideological arguments, and the [[COVID-19]] pandemic provided additional powerful arguments based on irrefutable concerns about the state’s fundamental role in protecting the lives of its citizens. That role is hard to play when **70 percent of the world’s rubber gloves are made in a single factory**, and when similar or even higher shares of not just other pieces of personal protective equipment but also of principal drug components and common medications (antibiotics, antihypertensive drugs) come from a very small number of suppliers in [[China]] and [[India]]. "Such dependence **might fulfill an economist’s dream of mass output at the lowest possible unit cost, but it makes for extremely irresponsible**—if not criminal—**governance when doctors and nurses have to face a pandemic without adequate PPE**, when states dependent on foreign production engage in dismaying competition for limited supplies, and when patients around the world cannot renew their prescriptions because of the slowdowns or closures in [[Asian]] factories." ([Location 2622](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08SGC3TD3&location=2622)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[comparative-advantage]], [[globalisation]], [[resilience]], **Source** -- [[202412030828 - B - How the World Really Works]]