Issue No. 5

Welcome to Global Affairs, Inc., a weekly newsletter at the intersection of business and global affairs.

The Broad View

One big story, three different perspectives.

On the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

Regulatory Failure 101: What the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank Reveals

It’s an all-too-familiar cycle: First comes the boom, then the breathtakingly speedy bust, and then the bailout. Now we’re in the moment where everyone wonders where the financial regulators were.

ProPublicaRevolving Door Project

‘What a mess’: How biotech startups grappled with SVB’s collapse

The bank’s failure caused some companies to question whether they could pay employees, while forcing many others to take steps to calm nervous investors.

BioPharma DiveBen Fidler

SVB’s Collapse Is Sobering for US National Security, Too

The US model for technological innovation has become exceptionally vulnerable to single points of failure.

BloombergHal Brands

The Deep Dive

In-depth analyses where business meets global affairs. Read/watch/listen.  

TikTok bans: what the evidence says about security and privacy concerns

Anxieties over China spying on the West have ranged from shooting down balloons in the sky to banning Chinese-owned social media apps. But whilst the US, EU, and potentially the UK, have banned TikTok from government devices, the app might not present any more risk to users’ privacy than US-based social media apps do.

THE CONVERSATION | Tech

Globalisation, already slowing, is suffering a new assault

Great power rivalry has ratcheted up a zero-sum game of economic advancement. The playing field is science and tech (think chip manufacturing, AI, electric vehicle batteries). The aim is to win against competitor states at all costs. This could splinter the established international trade and investment system—and the global businesses operating in it.

THE ECONOMIST | Globalisation

Tech's very bad year, in numbers

It’s turbulent times in tech. Fewer unicorns, more (and more) layoffs, bleak statistics on venture funding. From promising startups to heavyweight multinationals, Rest of World surveys how shocks and stresses in geopolitics and the economy have rattled tech companies across the globe.

REST OF WORLD | Tech

The CEO agenda: Prioritizing geopolitical risk

Should there be Corporate Political Responsibility? How can leaders discern when an effect on their business is caused by great power competition or genuine commercial competition? Is it more important to consider geopolitical risk than capital markets? McKinsey experts discuss why and how businesses should navigate the current geopolitical landscape.

THE MCKINSEY PODCAST | Geopolitics