Supply chains were once studied only by worthy nerds with an interest in esoteric subjects, such as the computerisation of bills of lading. Or they were opined on by commentators in expansive takes on the march of globalisation at places like the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Last year, though, the subject went mainstream, as dozens of ships were backed up outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the car industry ran short of semiconductors.

The fact that these supply chain snarl-ups came during the coronavirus pandemic — and after years of trade tensions, particularly between the US and China — encouraged a belief in the vulnerability of globalisation to external shocks. It looked like the rupture in our global trading system that so many people had predicted, for so long.