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    The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade. New Preface and Epilogue with Updates on Economic Issues and Main Characters 2nd Edition
    The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade. New Preface and Epilogue with Updates on Economic Issues and Main Characters 2nd Edition
    The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade. New Preface and Epilogue with Updates on Economic Issues and Main Characters 2nd Edition
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade. New Preface and Epilogue with Updates on Economic Issues and Main Characters 2nd Edition

    Written by Pietra Rivoli

    Narrated by Rosemary Benson

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is a critically acclaimed narrative that illuminates the globalization debates and reveals the key factors to success in global business. Tracing a T-shirt's life story from a Texas cotton field to a Chinese factory and back to a U.S. storefront before arriving at the used clothing market in Africa, the book uncovers the political and economic forces at work in the global economy. Along the way, this fascinating exploration addresses a wealth of compelling questions about politics, trade, economics, ethics, and the impact of history on today's business landscape.

    Using a simple, everyday T-shirt as a lens through which to explore the business, economic, moral, and political complexities of globalization in a historical context, Travels encapsulates a number of complex issues into a single identifiable object that will strike a chord with readers as they: investigate the sources of sustained competitive advantage in different industries; examine the global economic and political forces that explain trade patters between countries; analyze complex moral issues related to globalization and international business; and discover the importance of cultural and human elements in international trade.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAscent Audio
    Release dateJul 16, 2019
    ISBN9781469075112
    The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade. New Preface and Epilogue with Updates on Economic Issues and Main Characters 2nd Edition

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    Reviews for The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy

    3.5/5

    81 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Fantastic book which makes a subject that seems benign incredibly interesting, even for the most mundane reader. Well narrated.
    • 5/5
      I fully agree with fellow reviewer Justintrapp. This covers the entire scope of global trade..outsourcing,the polititics of South Carolina who protects his textile industry, and at the end the effect of American clothes sold overseas on its improving fashions, men and women. A must read.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating both for seeing how far a t-shirt travels from grower to the store rack (and afterwards) and for showing how complicated international trade really is. The author writes from an free-market perspective but acknowledges the concerns of those who favor more regulation.

      What particularly sticks with me: her descriptions of the grueling work in a Chinese factory, and then pointing out that the reason these young women are working there is because it's easier work for better pay than they'd get back on the farm at home.
    • 4/5
      This book tells about the textile industry in a global economy using a t-shirt as an example. She explains the entire travels of a t-shirt from the cotton farm in Texas to a used clothing dealer in Africa. Some of the economic policies about the textile industry are explained. This book is a must read for business students, especially those who are in former mill towns in order to understand the change that the economies in those towns did go through.
    • 3/5
      Before I discuss the book, I must mention the awful, awful German translation. The race to the bottom touches business books especially hard, as many translators are ignorant about the economic and social science vocabulary. The book's translator fails even at general vocabulary and has but a limited understanding of US society (The US Peace Corps is not part of the US army, soccer moms is a moniker for a lifestyle group, ...).Preserving the English sentence structure in the German text makes the author sound like a nine-year old. Epic fail.The book itself does not fulfill the promise of its marvelous concept of following the life cycle of a t-shirt from its cotton origin in Texas to its manufacture in China to its sale in Florida to its disposal and resale to Tanzania. The first failure lies in the non-use of business concepts such as a value chain. It would have been fairly easy to depict the different cost structures and see who captures the most value. The second failure is the author's repeated misuse (or lack of understanding?) of terms such as comparative advantage. The author's argumentation suffers from multiple non-sequiturs and her George W. Bush worship and Republican bias (the Washington Post is left-leaning in her opinion) leads her to unresolved clashes between her ideology and the facts. In the clumsy translation, she seems to say many good things about slavery which "solved" the labor shortage for the US cotton industry. Protectionism for capitalists (in the form of subventions and trade restrictions) does not trouble her much. Protectionism for workers does.Overall, the production of a t-shirt is distorted by protectionism at multiple levels. US cotton producers receive twice the world market price from Uncle Sam, US content restrictions distort trade flows and destroys local industries in LDC. The lack of regulation and control in China, while lifting millions out of the subsistence level, still leaves many in misery. Humane working conditions would add only a few cents to the total cost of a t-shirt. But the authors is already content with the present economic liberation of her Chinese sisters.The book is at its best when she describes individuals and their work lives. Her ideas about economics and politics suffer from muddled thinking. Rising to the defense of US protectionism as a form of exaggerated patriotism conflicts with her (rather weak) free market ideas. Free markets are only ok if the US benefits. This is not how Smith and Ricardo see it.
    • 3/5
      Reading this book, made me angry about the unfair advantage that some of our cotton farmers have in this country. The insight into the workings of our government and the way we treat other developing countries brought tears to me eyes. Just another example of the bullying techniques that USA uses in our world.The layout of the book by Pietra Rivoli makes for a easy way to follow a complex trail of how our country does and doesn't cooperate with our fellow planet residents.A very thought provoking story.
    • 2/5
      very useful for explaining some negative parts of globalization to moderates, but the author never aks the question, "Is a free market a worthwhile goal for society?"