Macro Trends

Tariffs: The Next Chapter

Companies need to rebuild their strategies for a world in which the free movement of goods, capital, IP, and people cannot be taken for granted.

Retail

US Consumer Health Update

Consumer Health Indexes: Upper-income earners’ optimistic recovery in outlook and spending intent takes readings well above pretariff levels.

Support Functions

The New Case for Zero-Based Cost Management

A clean-sheet approach helps leaders produce savings that stick—even in turbulent times.

Performance Improvement

In an Era of Tariffs and Turbulence, Four Moves That Matter

Understand your exposure. Understand your competitors’ exposure. Adjust your pricing and supply chains accordingly. Repeat as necessary.

Energy & Natural Resources

Tariffs: What Utilities Leaders Need to Know

As tariff uncertainty and pressures mount, leaders are upskilling procurement teams, rethinking inventory strategy, and diversifying the supply chain.

Retail

Sourcing amid Uncertainty: Fashion and Footwear Retail Strategies

Costs are mounting, supply chains are in flux, and the future is murky. Winning brands are acting now to reinforce their resilience.

Strategy

Tariff Response: What You Need to Know

Bain's Karen Harris and Hernan Saenz discuss the lasting impact of tariffs, what leading companies are doing to adapt, and the strategic moves to make for success.

Healthcare & Life Sciences

How Medtechs Are Rerouting Supply Chains for Resilience

In the face of continued tariff uncertainty, most medtech companies are getting ready to take action.

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Are US Hospitals Ready for Tariffs?

While 70% of health systems and hospitals are concerned, only 10% have a formal mitigation strategy in place.

Consumer Products

Tariffs and the US Consumer: Where to Focus Amid the Noise

Executive teams should track the factors that directly influence whether people spend—or not.

Machinery & Equipment

From China to Trouble?

Swapping supply chains doesn’t mean escaping risk.

Macro Strategy

Beyond Tariffs: The Supply Chain Reinvention Imperative

Tariffs are accelerating businesses’ operations overhaul. Winning in today’s disrupted world demands bold trade-offs and strategic transformation.

Macro Strategy

How CFOs Are Planning for Geopolitical Risk

Facing macroeconomic shifts, CFOs are adjusting their plans but holding the line on capital investment.

Supply Chain

What CFOs Need to Know About Inflation, Tariffs, and Capital Markets

Goldman Sachs’ Tim Ingrassia joins Bain's Karen Harris and Pam Yee to unpack the macro forces shaping the CFO agenda.

Operations

Executives’ Top Worry About Tariffs? Uncertainty.

The lack of clarity about US policy is COOs' biggest concern, outweighing cost increases.

Accelerated Performance Transformation

Tariffs Are Shaking Up Investment Priorities

As input costs rise, companies are revising forecasts and shifting capital to supply chains and tech.

Private Equity

Macro Update: The Expanding Frontiers of Automation

From strawberry picking to bricklaying, automation is revolutionizing unexpected corners of the workforce.

Private Equity

Macro Update: Navigating Inflation and Policy Shifts Under a New Administration

With inflation easing and public markets on the rise, the key questions are whether the Federal Reserve has overcorrected and how the new administration will impact the path to recovery.

Supply Chain

Tariffs: The Costs of Inaction

Trade levies are more than a headline. As tariffs tighten their grip on global commerce, companies must act decisively to mitigate risks and seize opportunities.

Macro Strategy

US Election: Initial Economic Implications

An early read by Bain's Macro Trends Group sees the election as another indication of the country’s path toward post-globalization.

Private Equity

Macro Update: Calm, but Not Stable

We ask Bain’s leading macro expert about the “last mile” problem in the US and whether Europe has miles to go.

Private Equity

Macro Update: The Flip Side of Inflation

As inflation trends downward, should investors plan for a lower interest rate environment in 2024—and even the possibility of deflation?

Private Equity

Macro Update: Are We Out of the Woods Yet?

We ask Karen Harris, managing director of Bain’s Macro Trends Group, if the economy could emerge from this period of rate hikes unscathed.

Strategy

Better with Age: The Rising Importance of Older Workers

Some 150 million jobs will shift to older workers by the end of the decade. Here’s how to get ready.

Private Equity

Preparing for a Post-Dollar Era

We ask Bain’s leading macro expert whether the dollar’s status as a global reserve currency is really under threat.

Private Equity

Macro Update: A Strange Brew

Karen Harris, managing director of Bain’s Macro Trends Group, returns to the show for a conversation on interest rates, inflation, bank runs, and a “weird” mix of economic indicators.

Private Equity

Macro Update: Waiting to Exhale

Behind the scenes at Davos, attendees were coming to terms with a fracturing world, a cascade of risks, and, despite it all, a silver lining.

Private Equity

Macro Risks: Keep It Simple

Home in on the mission-critical risks, but don’t sweat the details.

Private Equity

Macroeconomic Outlook: Implications for Private Equity

Bain's Hugh MacArthur and Karen Harris discuss the impacts that current macroeconomic trends have on private equity.

Private Equity

Macro Risks: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

Faced with an unsettling convergence of macro risks, investors must consider the possible outcomes for the global economy, from best- to worst-case scenarios.

Macro Strategy

The Russia-Ukraine War: Assessing Scenarios and Responses

Bain Partners Karen Harris and Dunigan O’Keeffe discuss the many potential shocks resulting from the invasion of Ukraine and how to respond.

Operations

The Russia-Ukraine War: Macroeconomic Update and Supply Chain Implications

Bain Partners Karen Harris and Joe Terino discuss the macroeconomic impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war, including its ramifications for supply chain strategy.