The Reshoring Initiative recently announced a program in partnership with Walmart to help companies manufacture more consumer products in the United States.

E-commerce retailers are starting to add smaller, urban warehouses to their supply chains as the pace of online shopping and delivery transforms distribution demands.

The dynamics that have long favored China as the world's center of low-cost manufacturing are changing. And no one - not even China - seems to have a problem with that.

For manufacturers, Mexico is heating up. According to a recent survey from AlixPartners, 41 percent of manufacturing and distribution executives globally believe that bringing production back from overseas – a strategy known as nearshoring – is an opportunity for their organizations, and 86 percent of that group report that they have nearshored or expect to within the next few years.

Foreign direct investment has never been more important in catalyzing growth, whether in the developed or developing world. Although equity markets around the world have largely recovered since the financial crisis, global capital flows have contracted sharply. The Milken Institute's Global Opportunity Index provides policy makers and investors vital information on policies that can best attract foreign direct investment, expand economies and accelerate job creation. The index is also a guide for countries seeking to improve their business environments and attract investors who commit long-term capital, rather than move it around as a fleeting portfolio tactic.