Governments are taking over private enterprises and resources at the fastest pace in 50 years. Based on the past century’s multiple waves of nationalizations, this shift will alter the world’s economic landscape.
Since 2020, governments on every continent have nationalized properties held by their own citizens and by foreign investors. France and Germany took over utility and electricity companies. France put the largest shipyard in Europe under government control. The United Kingdom nationalized railways and steelmaking.
Russia has seized more than $48 billion in ports, factories, and consumer businesses since it invaded Ukraine in 2022. The United States took a dominant ownership stake in the country’s only domestic rare earth producer. And a growing list of countries seized foreign-owned resources such as lithium, gold, uranium, nickel, and even palm oil. Although the valuations are disputed, $239 billion–$544 billion in assets was nationalized between 2016 and 2026 alone.
Πηγή: IMF