Global Forces Changing Corporate America after 2008

How has corporate America changed since the events of 2008?

Really, there are three forces which have changed corporate America for good. One: Globalization. No longer seen as the panacea, now seen as a real force that may actually be dismantled, as barriers go up across the world, forcing businesses to reevaluate their supply chains. Two: Rising inequality. Questioning the role of business and its contribution in society more generally, leading to a shift among CEOs from the shareholder to the stakeholders, the many that now require a different set of metrics and a different way of doing things. And thirdly, of course, the change that's been brought about now as the climate becomes a source of instability. For years business was able to plan, safe and secure in the knowledge that the environment at least was something that predictably would not cause an issue. Well, today that's no longer the case. Whether it's global warming and with it, the temperature changes which have led to some of the flooding and indeed the very different forces which are changing insurance premiums around the world or indeed the attitude of the young men towards those who pollute the environment. There isn't a business out there that can afford not to act and take stock of their environmental footprint. So, much has changed and it's not going back.

More from GZERO Media

- YouTube

"We are seeing adversaries act in increasingly sophisticated ways, at a speed and scale often fueled by AI in a way that I haven't seen before.” says Lisa Monaco, President of Global Affairs at Microsoft.

US President Donald Trump has been piling the pressure on Russia and Venezuela in recent weeks. He placed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil firms and bolstered the country’s military presence around Venezuela – while continuing to bomb ships coming off Venezuela’s shores. But what exactly are Trump’s goals? And can he achieve them? And how are Russia and Venezuela, two of the largest oil producers in the world, responding? GZERO reporters Zac Weisz and Riley Callanan discuss.

- YouTube

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says AI can be both a force for good and a tool for harm. “AI has either the possibility of…providing interventions and disruption, or it has the ability to also further harms, increase radicalization, and exacerbate issues of terrorism and extremism online.”

Demonstrators carry the dead body of a man killed during a protest a day after a general election marred by violent demonstrations over the exclusion of two leading opposition candidates at the Namanga One-Post Border crossing point between Kenya and Tanzania, as seen from Namanga, Kenya October 30, 2025.
REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Tanzania has been rocked by violence for three days now, following a national election earlier this week. Protestors are angry over the banning of candidates and detention of opposition leaders by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Illegal immigrants from Ethiopia walk on a road near the town of Taojourah February 23, 2015. The area, described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as one of the most inhospitable areas in the world, is on a transit route for thousands of immigrants every year from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia travelling via Yemen to Saudi Arabia in hope of work. Picture taken February 23.
REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

7,500: The Trump administration will cap the number of refugees that the US will admit over the next year to 7,500. The previous limit, set by former President Joe Biden, was 125,000. The new cap is a record low. White South Africans will have priority access.