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Loading... Travels of a T-Shirt 1st Edition with Intro to International Economics 1st Edition Setby Pietra Rivoli
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"Engrossing ... (Rivoli) goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner ... full of memorable characters and vivid scenes." -- Time "An engaging and illuminating saga ... Rivoli follows her T-shirt along its route, but that is like saying that Melville follows his whale ... Her nuanced and fairminded approach is all the more powerful for eschewing the pretense of ideological absolutism, and her telescopic look through a single industry has all the makings of an economics classic." -- The New York Times "Rarely is a business book so well written that one would gladly stay up all night to finish it. Pietra Rivoli's The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is just such a page-turner." -- CIO magazine "Succeeds admirably ... T-shirts may not have changed the world, but their story is a useful account of how free trade and protectionism certainly have." -- Financial Times "[A] fascinating exploration of the history, economics, and politics of world trade ... The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is a thought-provoking yarn that exhibits the ugly, the bad, and the good of globalization, and points to the unintended positive consequences of the clash between proponents and opponents of free trade." -- Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) "Part travelogue, part history, and part economics, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is ALL storytelling, and in the grand style. A must-read." -- Peter J. Dougherty, Senior Economics Editor, Princeton University Press author of Who's Afraid of Adam Smith? "A readable and evenhanded treatment of the complexities of free trade ... As Rivoli repeatedly makes clear, there is absolutely nothing free about free trade except the slogan." -- San Francisco Chronicle No library descriptions found. |
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Wikipedia in English
1
Rivoli is an economist at Georgetown Univ. who decided to take up a sweatshop protester's challenge and find out where her t-shirt was made. What follows is a journey through the supply chain and an in-depth look at the complicated rules and regulations on trade.
It's a great historical look at how the U.S. has developed its production, labor standards, and comparative advantages. How America's domination of the cotton market is partly through creative ingenuity and a free enterprise system and partly (though currently probably mostly) through government subsidies and price support programs.
While China and other countries are using their competitive advantage in labor to dominate the market, but how that comparative advantage is slipping away as their economy grows and they begin making more complicated products.
Rivoli also does a great job of showing how free trade agreements such as NAFTA have so many complicated rules for countries that they often don't free up trade much.
Among other things.
I give the book 4 stars out of 5. A must-read for anyone interested in sweatshops, trade, globalization, or economics in practice. (