The McKinsey Global Institute estimated last year that digital trade has a greater impact on economic growth, measured by a nation’s Gross Domestic Product, than traditional trade in goods and services. The McKinsey study said that digital trade volume has grown 4500 percent since 2005 and is projected to increase by another 900 percent over the next five years. However, despite its magnitude, this booming new area of international trade is neither well understood and nor adequately regulated. The Cipher Brief’s Fritz Lodge spoke with Susan Ariel Aaronson, a research professor focusing on digital trade at the George Washington University Elliot School of International Affairs, about the new trend in digital trade flows and how policymakers should address it.
The Cipher Brief: What do you make of the concept that stagnating global trade flows are a sign that the global economy has reached a level of “peak trade?”
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