The new geopolitics of global business
China and America dominate like never before
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/sites/default/files/images/2021/06/articles/main/20210605_ldd001.jpg)
TWENTY YEARS ago this week the share price of a startup run by an obsessive called Jeff Bezos had slumped by 71% over 12 months. Amazon’s near-death experience was part of the dotcom crash that exposed Silicon Valley’s hubris and, along with the $14bn fraud at Enron, shattered confidence in American business. China, meanwhile, was struggling to privatise its creaking state-owned firms, and there was little sign that it could create a culture of entrepreneurship. Instead the bright hope was in Europe, where a new single currency promised to catalyse a giant business-friendly integrated market.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Geopolitics and business”
Leaders June 5th 2021
- The new geopolitics of global business
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