Mind the gap: firms, governments, & geopolitics

A gap is emerging between government & firm responses to geopolitical tensions: firms are moving more slowly, creating risks

This is the second anniversary of these small world notes!  Thanks very much to the thousands of regular readers for your interest and engagement.

The intersection of governments, firms, and geopolitics continues to be front and centre this week.  From the costs of high energy prices in Europe, to the US bans on the sale of advanced semiconductors by Nvidia and AMD to China announced on Wednesday, firms are increasingly in the financial firing line of geopolitics.

This is likely to continue.  There has been a marked hardening of (Western-oriented) government attitudes on geopolitical issues over the past few years, reinforced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  After a period of complacency, many Western governments are taking geopolitical realities much more seriously.

The coalition against Russia is still holding despite the economic and political costs.  Indeed, the German Foreign Minister argued this week for an additional package of EU sanctions – coming on the heels of visa restricti…