Capitalism, Supply Chains and Democracy

Just as I was about to post this, I received this Breaking News notification from New York Times:

Trump Administration Live Updates: Preliminary Trade Deal Reached With E.U. After Months of Tense Talks

Continuing my recent theme – Capitalism, Sustainability and Democracy, Capitalism, Innovation and Democracy, and PELE: Political Economists and their Lived Experiences – here is a proposal for a research agenda:

POEM: Interlacing Political Economy and Operations Management.

I elaborate on it in Capitalism, Supply Chains and Democracy.

Here is the abstract:

Global supply chains are arteries through which the lifeblood of civilization flows. The models that govern our understanding of global supply chains have long been rooted in the grammar of efficiency—optimization, logistics, and cost. Yet, as the world has revealed itself to be not merely complicated, but also politically entangled, such models prove insufficient. To better grasp the true nature of supply chains in the twenty-first century, we must elevate our frameworks to account for institutions, ideologies, and the exercise of power. In short, we must allow political economy to sit at the same table as operations research.

Operations Management (OM) has made important strides by incorporating microeconomic concepts—particularly in addressing incentive misalignment and coordination in decentralized supply chains. While such integration has enriched firm-level and inter-firm decision-making, it remains largely silent on macro-level political forces that shape the environment in which these supply chains operate. Trade policy, regulatory regimes, geopolitical risk, and institutional quality are not exogenous shocks to be endured, but structural features that must be modeled.

Through the lens of POEM—an integrative agenda combining Political Economy and Operations Management—we could examine how varieties of capitalism and forms of democracy shape the structure and function of global supply chains. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fractured landscape of sustainability policy, where advances are frequently undone by ideological oscillation and institutional inertia.

To make sense of this reality, I suggest we consider new conceptual and mathematical tools: political risk metrics, institutional constraint variables, and game-theoretic models that treat firms, regulators, and voters (who can be influenced) as strategic actors. These additions are not philosophical luxuries but empirical necessities. For without them, our theories risk describing a world that no longer exists.

The central claim is simple: if we are to design, evaluate and operate resilient and sustainable supply chains, we must stop pretending that politics is exogenous noise and that it can be ignored. It is signal. And we must learn to model how it is being manipulated.

I am planning to present this as a Keynote at the Conference Honoring Prof. Suresh Sethi’s 80th Birthday.

Dear Sridhar, 

I hope you are doing well.

I am writing to extend a heartfelt invitation for you to deliver a keynote speech at a special workshop we are organizing to honor the 80th birthday of my PhD advisor, Professor Suresh Sethi. The workshop will take place from September 26 to 28, 2025, at The University of Texas at Dallas. The conference will begin with a welcome reception on the evening of September 26 and the conference dinner will be held on September 27 evening.

Warm regards, Tao, on behalf of the Organizing Committee (Annabelle Feng, Dorothee Honhon, Subodha Kumar, Meng Li, Tao Li, Sandun Perera, and Houmin Yan)

Look forward to hearing your reactions and perspectives!