The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy

The keys to global business success, as taught by a T-shirt's journey
 
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. This new printing of the second edition includes a revised preface and a new epilogue with updates through 2014 on the people, industries, and policies related to the T-shirt's life story.
 
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
* Discover the importance of cultural and human elements in international trade
 
This story of a simple product illuminates the many complex issues which businesspeople, policymakers, and global citizens are touched by every day.

The keys to global business success, as taught by a T-shirt's journey 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.

PREFACE ix
 
PROLOGUE xvii
 
PART I KING COTTON 1
 
1 How America Has Dominated the Global Cotton Industry for 200 Years 3
 
2 The History of American Cotton 9
 
3 Back at the Reinsch Farm 24
 
4 All God's Dangers Ain't the Subsidies 49
 
PART II MADE IN CHINA 75
 
5 Cotton Comes to China 77
 
6 The Long Race to the Bottom 92
 
7 Sisters in Time 105
 
8 The Unwitting Conspiracy 120
 
PART III TROUBLE AT THE BORDER 141
 
9 Returning to America 143
 
10 Dogs Snarling Together 156
 
11 Perverse Effects and Unintended Consequences of T-Shirt Trade Policy 171
 
12 45 Years of ''Temporary'' Protectionism End in 2009-----Now What? 196
 
PART IV MY T-SHIRT FINALLY ENCOUNTERS A FREE MARKET 213
 
13 Where T-Shirts Go after the Salvation Army Bin 215
 
14 How Small Entrepreneurs Clothe East Africa with Old American T-Shirts 227
 
15 Mitumba: Friend or Foe to Africa? 239
 
CONCLUSION 253
 
EPILOGUE: DEVELOPMENTS 2009---2014 262
 
I: American Cotton Is Still King 262
 
II: The Race to the Bottom Speeds Up 270
 
III: The Alphabet Armies March On 277
 
IV: Competition Heats Up in the Used Clothing Business 282
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 286
 
NOTES 288
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 310
 
INDEX 335

The keys to global business success, as taught by a T-shirt s journey
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.