Why 2026 belongs to businesses that pay close attention to state priorities

Employees work next to an empty production line at a garment factory in the organised industrial zone in Corum, Turkey on August 23, 2024.

Photo credit: Reuters

For much of the last three decades, following the end of the Cold War, governments were encouraged to step back and let markets decide.

Growth, we were told, would follow efficiency, openness and integration. In 2026, that advice no longer reflects how industry grows or how economic success is shaped. This is not because markets have failed—markets still matter, but they no longer operate in isolation from public policy.