Globalization or Chinafication?
October 14, 2025
Globalization isn’t abstract—it’s the world we live in.
From a Swedish barge to your iPhone, the systems shaping our economy are deeply interconnected—and often invisible.
Recorded live in Washington, D.C. at the 25th Annual National Book Festival, Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee (Apple in China) and historian Ian Kumekawa (Harvard Fellow, MIT Lecturer, Empty Vessel) join Ken to pull back the curtain on globalization, technology, and the “offshore world” that defines modern life.
Together, they explore how containerization, offshoring, and industrial ambition transformed nations and industries alike—and what that means for the future of innovation, policy, and everyday life.
Key Takeaways from the Conversation
The Machinery of Globalization
How a Swedish barge, built to house oil workers, reveals the origins of today’s offshore economy.
Apple and China: Skill + Scale
Why Apple’s rise became inseparable from China’s manufacturing power—and how that partnership reshaped both nations.
The Invisible Infrastructure
From container ships to corporate boardrooms, the unseen systems moving goods, labor, and data across the globe.
The Cost of Dependence
How decades of offshoring created efficiency—and vulnerability—in global supply chains.
What Comes Next
Reshoring, ally-shoring, and the race to build smarter, more resilient economies for the next generation.
Why This Conversation Matters
The phones in our hands, the goods on our shelves, and the policies shaping our future are all part of one interconnected system. Understanding globalization isn’t just about economics—it’s about understanding ourselves, our choices, and the forces driving the world forward.
About the Guests
Patrick McGee has reported for the Financial Times since 2013, covering Apple, technology, and global business from Hong Kong, Germany, and California. His debut book, Apple in China, is the first comprehensive account of Apple’s deep entanglement with China’s rise and the geopolitics of global supply chains.
Ian Kumekawa is a historian of capitalism and empire. A Fellow at Harvard’s Center for History and Economics and Lecturer at MIT, he is the author of Empty Vessel (Knopf, 2025), which follows the remarkable journey of a Swedish ship to reveal the hidden structures of globalization and the “offshore world” that shapes modern economies.