Rethinking the firm

During the last decades we have witnessed an increasing transformation in the productive activities carried out by transnational firms, going from almost fully-integrated, self-sufficient powerhouses to an increasing specialization centered on “core activities” which manifested in the appearance and extension of the so-called global value chains. This process has benefited leading firms at the expense of defunded national states and squeezed labor. It has also decoupled the availability of funds by these firms from the transformation of those funds into productive resources. On the contrary, these monies have been used in multiple, non-productive ways, fostering inequality and social unrest. Behind all the troubles and suffering brought about by the covid-19 pandemic, it has also shown at least two broad lessons directly related to those trends: a) have a good dose of skepticism regarding firms willingness to change and b) national states still have a good margin of maneuver.