Wednesday, October 14Global business, every directionNorth · East · South · West
The World Guide

Global business, by the numbers

Global business can feel enormous. Here it is in bite-size pieces: how goods move, how money moves, and the ideas that move both.

The numbers
195Countries in the world: 193 UN members plus two observer states
8B+People on the planet, and every one of them a customer somewhere
1995The World Trade Organization opens for business
160+Members of the World Trade Organization
1956The Ideal X sails with 58 containers and modern shipping is born
32Points on a traditional compass rose
01

How goods move

Most of the world’s trade travels by sea, packed into standard steel containers that move from ship to train to truck without being unpacked.

Ports, canals and shipping lanes are the arteries of the world economy, and a hold-up at one of them can be felt everywhere.

  • TEUA twenty-foot container, the standard unit
  • PortWhere sea meets land
  • CanalA shortcut between oceans
02

How money moves

Every cross-border sale involves at least two currencies, and exchange rates change by the second.

Central banks set interest rates at home, but their decisions ripple out across the world.

  • FXForeign exchange
  • RateThe price of borrowing
  • ReserveMoney held by central banks
03

The rules of the road

Trade agreements set the rules: who pays which tariffs, how disputes are settled and what standards goods must meet.

The World Trade Organization, founded in 1995, is the main global forum for those rules.

  • TariffA tax on imports
  • FTAFree trade agreement
  • WTOWorld Trade Organization
04

Going global

Companies go abroad to find new customers, new suppliers and new talent. Some open offices, some partner with local firms and some simply sell online.

Getting it right means understanding local laws, languages and tastes.

  • ExportSelling abroad
  • Joint ventureA shared local business
  • LocalizeMake it fit the market
05

What comes next

New technology, new energy sources and new trade routes keep redrawing the map of global business.

The compass keeps spinning, and that is what makes it interesting.

  • AIChanging how work gets done
  • EnergyOld and new, side by side
  • RoutesNew ways to move goods
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