Episode summary
Can India Win From the Globalization Reset?
Wall Street Week
· · 11 min · Guests: Narendra Modi
Summary
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum by warning that the forces that once connected the world are increasingly being used as leverage. He said supply chains, energy, minerals, payments and technology are becoming tools of coercion, and argued that the central problem for the global economy is now trust: whether supplies will keep flowing, promises will be kept and partners will stand by one another.
A guest and other business leaders echoed that view, saying geopolitics is no longer a temporary shock but a permanent operating condition. The former U.S. commerce secretary said conflicts in Iran and Ukraine are driving up energy prices and hurting supply chains, while the BlackRock executive said investors can no longer rely on a single base case and must prepare portfolios for discrete outcomes shaped by fragmentation, demographics, technology and changing capital markets.
The forum also framed India as a potential winner from the reset. A guest said India has simplified regulations, digitized its economy and opened markets, making it easier to manufacture for both domestic consumption and export. Business leaders from Blackstone and BlackRock said reforms, infrastructure improvements and stronger liquidity have made India more attractive, even as all sides agreed that AI is the biggest long-term force reshaping growth, productivity and regulation.
Key takeaways
- Narendra Modi said supply chains, energy, minerals, payments and technology are being weaponized as tools of coercion.
- A guest said conflicts in Iran and Ukraine are already driving up energy prices and hurting supply chains.
- The BlackRock executive said portfolios now need to be managed for discrete geopolitical and technological outcomes, not one base case.
- A guest said India’s regulatory simplification and digitization are helping it attract capital and manufacturing.
- Business leaders said AI is likely the defining force of the era and could materially lift productivity and GDP growth.
Notable quotes
“-Things that connected the world at one time are today being weaponized, be it supply chains or energy, be it minerals or payments or technology”
“-We are in the middle of a number of conflicts at the moment that are urgent and, I would argue, need to be urgently resolved”
“-If you're managing a portfolio, you no longer could say there's a base case and then I'll be plus or minus relative to the base case”
“-Most of the sectors in which we were drawing capital have been freed of very many regulations which had prevailed earlier”
“And to me, that's the big thing. That's the biggest challenge”
How the episode opens
We start here in India, where Bloomberg convened the New Economy Forum this week, bringing together leaders from government, business and the markets to share views on an increasingly uncertain world. The forum began at the top with the leader of the most populous country in the world and the fastest growing large economy, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who warned about the risks of countries using economic engines against one another. - -Things that connected the world at one time are today being weaponized, be it supply chains or energy, be it minerals or payments or technology.
They are all becoming tools for coercion and for exerting pressure. - -We are all seeing when and where the routes created by globalization over the last few decades became choke points. And in the midst of all this, artificial intelligence is changing the way we work in every sector.
In several countries, aging-related challenges are also increasing at a fast pace. In this situation, one of the biggest questions facing the world today is that of trust, of confidence. The confidence that supplies will continue uninterrupted in times of need.
The confidence that promises made will also be kept. The confidence that partner countries will stand by us in times of need. Westin: Speaking on stage in Delhi, former U.S.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo echoed Prime Minister Modi's concerns about geopolitical conflicts and their effects on the global economy. -We are in the middle of a number of conflicts at the moment that are urgent and, I would argue, need to be urgently resolved. You know, the conflict in Iran is urgent with challenges reverberating around the world, driving up energy prices, hurting supply chains.
So that's urgent. Ukraine, urgent. You know, so these are things that require immediate attention and hopefully resolution.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- globalization reset
- supply chain reshoring
- geopolitical risk
- energy and technology security
- capital flows to india
Watch the episode
Watch “Can India Win From the Globalization Reset?” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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