GLOBALIZATION OF THE WORLD ECONOMY: FEATURES OF THE CURRENT STAGE

The last few decades, if not a century, globalization has been one of the key processes and the main feature of the development of the world economy, and it is here that all the fundamental changes in the economic policies of the leading world powers are significantly reflected. The current stage of globalization is characterized by such a policy of several countries, which leads to the destruction of established economic ties, increased protectionism, sanctions wars, increased economic instability, and a general slowdown in GDP growth rates. There is an increasing opinion expressed more often about the impasse of the globalization process and the advent of the de-globalization of the world economy. The authors set out to confirm or refute this point of view. At the beginning, it was analyzed the dynamics of the index of the globalization level of countries of the world (using the KOF Index of Globalization), reflecting the scale of integration of a country into the global political, economic and socio-cultural space according to its different components. Then there was an analysis of the distribution of benefits from globalization between countries. It was revealed that the largest companies today relate differently to their foreign direct investment, since the digital economy allows them to operate on a global scale and act on foreign markets with virtually no physical presence there, so the need for foreign assets to do business abroad is significantly reduced. New technologies lead to changes in the content of international business transactions, and completely new multinational business models are emerging. The authors come to a conclusion that nowadays there is an obvious slowdown in globalization processes. However, it is temporary in nature and primarily concerns traditional assets, while transnational flows of new assets, caused by the 4th industrial revolution, are fundamentally strengthened. It can be assumed that there is a new stage of globalization, where the driver is digital technology that fundamentally change the ideas and approaches to the placement of production forces in the world, seriously reformat the existing value chains, change the model and strategy of business development.