Over the past 40 years or so, exporters have got used to the idea that the whole world is their marketplace – a notion which has been encouraged through moves by governments around the world to reduce tariffs and other barriers to trade. But with global pandemics, trade wars, fuel crises and over the past few years – could it be that the process of globalisation might be moving into reverse?

“Near-shoring” is the idea that in today’s increasingly problematic global trading environment, you might be better off buying and selling in markets which are more nearby, and hence less fraught with risk. This episode looks at whether this phenomenon actually happening, how prevalent it is and what is causing it.

Joining Chris Horseman are Dr Alessandro Borin, Bank of Italy; Professor Maria Savona, University of Sussex and LUISS in Rome; and Dr Camilla Jensen, UK Trade Policy Observatory.