Is globalization a myth?

There’s lots of debate over globalization. Some experts believe globalization is dying. Others say it’s going through a reboot. And some think the free flow of goods across borders is evolving into something else. 

But what if we never really globalized to begin with? 

“We have big companies that we all know, whether it’s Boeing or Coca-Cola, that have gone global. But … there’s tens of thousands of other companies that yes, they did go abroad, but when they did, they just went next door. And they found that to be much more profitable than going far, far away,” said political scientist Shannon O’Neil, author of the new book “The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter.” 

O’Neil argues that globalization isn’t as global as we often think it is. Instead, she says, the global economy has “regionalized.”

On the show today, O’Neil breaks down the globalization myth, what we got wrong about globalization and what it means for the future of the U.S. economy.

In the News Fix, how inflation is affecting the cost of a Thanksgiving meal. Plus, are rich people running a shell game with money and the global economy?

Then, we’ll hear from a teacher who left the profession and learn why talking about the weather isn’t so boring after all.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter” by Shannon K. O’Neil
• “Is this the end of globalization?” from Marketplace
• “Sam Bankman-Fried, Elon Musk, and a secret text” from Semafor
• “The rising cost of Thanksgiving” from CNN
• “Real wages are falling nearly everywhere” from Axios
• “The Types of Clouds and What They Mean” from Jet Propulsion Lab

“Make Me Smart” will be off the rest of the week for the Thanksgiving holiday. We’ll be back on Monday. In the meantime, keep sending your comments and questions to 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.