T-Shirt Travels

After Zambia gained political independence their economy was doing better. Their economy was surrounded around their primary natural resource, copper. As copper sales went up, new medical buildings and schools were built, they had a promising textile industry and things were looking up. Until an unexpected rise in the price of oil in tandem with the dropping prices of copper forced Zambia to borrow from the IMF and world banks at extremely high interest rates. Soon Zambia found itself in a mountain of unpayable debts and to repay creditors, spending was cut to education and health and other infrastructure projects. Eventually all of the progress they have made goes to waste as it can not be maintained. Foreign countries currently dictate the economic policy via structural adjustment, i.e. policies that “should” increase revenue and allow them to pay the loans off. This inevitably leads to a country that is so dependent on foreign aid because their own industries have been destroyed by foreign influences.

The book Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli is about the journey of a plain cotton shirt internationally through the economy. This book consists of a plain, cheap t-shirt bought at Wal-Mart, is split into four important parts. The first part is about the source of the t-shirt: cotton. The second part is about the creation process the t-shirt goes through while being created in China. The third part is consists of explaining what happens after the t-shirt goes to the United States and faces the American protectionist policies. Lastly, the fourth essential part of this t-shirt is what happens to the shirt when it is finished in America (or other developed nations).

Often, when we think of a t-shirt, not much consideration goes past throwing it on and walking out the door. We discover in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, author Pietra Rivoli conveys the story of a t-shirt she purchased in Florida for just $5.99. Beginning with core element of the t-shirt, she describes the cotton boom in the United States and why we have reigned supreme as the leading cotton producer. She even meets with a Texan farmer who warms your heart from the very beginning of the chapter. Next, the cotton goes on to textile mills and factories, and Rivoli explains the history of the textile industry. With this lesson, she demonstrates how the textile industry boom was a

What I found most interesting was the story of Nelson Reinsch and his ability to keep an open mind in order to benefit from an ever-changing system of comparative advantage. Nelson worked his entire life as a cotton farmer, most of which was in the “cottonest city in the world,” Lubbock Texas. It was fascinating to hear first-hand accounts of how the cotton industry changed throughout Nelson’s life. Nelson adapted to the changing industry where farmers stuck in their traditional ways were eventually left behind. Nelson and other farmers in the region benefited from their relationships with

In her book, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy, Pietra Rivoli takes on the intricacies and complexities of trade and globalization through following the path of a T-Shirt she purchased from Walgreens for $5.99. It is a very informative book and her writing is such that the reader is left feeling both well informed on the issues discussed, as well as entertained.

The book is broken down into four parts: “King Cotton”, “Made in China”, “Trouble at the Border” and “My T-shirt Finally Encounters a Free Market”. Each part explains a different step of the t-shirt process.

The book I am reviewing is The Travel of a T-Shirt in a Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli. Some main points I found in the book was when he mentions how they seceded themselves through the use of immigrant workers, china had low pay, long hours, and poor working conditions. Also how women were considered low labor workers and when they raised the minimum wage. They would use the work of immigrants instead of white men because of how lazy white men were. They also included how the workers may only work for one single employer so the cotton growers wouldn't have to worry about them leaving to someone else that would pay them better.

Globalization is a system of global connections between countries that serves to increase interdependence between countries economically, socially, politically, and environmentally. In the video titled “Planet money makes t-shirts” the topic of connections is shown through a long, diverse, complex process between MDCs and LDCs. There’s a multitude of steps in the process of creating a t-shirt. This procedure is quite meticulous. The t-shirt begins in America. This is where the t-shirt is designed and where the raw materials are gathered to be shipped to the LDC, which in this case is Bangladesh and Colombia. The raw material to create the t-shirt is cotton it cost about .60 cents. The cotton is genetically modified, 90 % of American cotton

The producers in the new T-shirt value chain do not operate in a free market system. Government protectionist measures such as subsidies, quotas, and tariffs have limited economic success to a fortunate few. According to the author Pietra Rivoli, “the winners at various stages of my T-shirt’s life are adept not so much at competing in markets but at avoiding them.” These winners include the U.S. cotton farmer and the China apparel industry. Their market dominance and profitability have benefitted significantly from the political prowess of their government to limit competition.

Although globalization allows for most products to be produced at a more efficient rate, it also has the capability to mar the economies of municipalities in first world countries. In Pietra Rivoli’s book The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, she discusses the different viewpoints of opposing sides of an on-going battle to reduce the amount of tariffs and quotas put on the textile industries of foreign countries. For decades the textile industry in America has been on a noticeable decline, with outsourcing to third-world countries to blame. Although both faction’s viewpoints on the benefits of such outsourcing, both realize that there is only one way to gain the results they seek; which is to petition to the congressmen, including high ranking officials such as the president, in Washington D.C.

On April 24, 2013, NewYorkTimes journalist Jim Yardley reported on the collapse of Rana Plaza, an eight-story factory complex in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, which claimed the lives of 1,100 people. A 400-page report of the incident places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the building's owner, Sohel Rana, along with the owners of the building's five garment factories, who now face possible charges of murder, along with accusations of “ignoring safety warnings and locking exit doors,” while the Bangladeshi government continues to receive harsh criticism for its lax enforcement of labor safety standards in the country's billion-dollar clothing manufacturing industry (“Sweatshop Labor”). The garment industry in Bangladesh is one of the world's leading exporters of clothing, second only to China, with more than 5,000 garment factories employing an excess of 3 million workers, producing merchandise for top brand retailers in the United States and Europe (Yardley; “Sweatshop Labor”). Workers in these factories endure long hours and unsafe working conditions for wages so low parents must send their children to work instead of school so that they have enough to eat. The tragedy of Rana Plaza brings to the forefront the true cost of things; is it worth 1,100 lives to save a few dollars on a shirt or a pair of jeans?

Right off the bat, Pinsky gives imagery of sweatshop workers. He tries to humanize them by saying they are “gossiping over tea and noodles” or “talking money or politics”. I think that when Pinsky says this he does a great job of making us wonder if the whole process of us buying clothing is fair. We get it for a cheaper price because it is manufactured by underpaid workers in other countries that may or may not be in a hostile work environment. Throughout “shirt”, Pinsky really makes light of the relationship of the people buying something and the people manufacturing it. We never really think about what goes into the making of a shirt, we just buy it and wear

2. Richard M. Johns (2006). The Apparel Industry. 2nd ed. UK, London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. 1-124.

We often question how our food and clothes can be sold so cheap, this all comes down to where it is made or grown. Our clothes are made overseas in factories by women and in some cases even children in unsuitable conditions. They work long hours and don’t get paid much in return, it is said to be less than what they can afford to live on and made to work extra hours. This is why large stores like Primark and Asda can sell their clothes at such little cost. Some of the workers are said to be working 60 to 90 hours every week for as little as £17 per month. (Making social lives pg.88) The workers in the factories are grateful for their small wage and would struggle if the factories were to close and business was took elsewhere.

More importantly, INDECO failed to advance beyond production of non-durable consumer goods to durable and capital goods. Fourth, the bias against agriculture and rural areas meant the continued dependence on the copper mining industry. Fifth, the bias against exports and import restrictions resulted in higher exchange rates and reduced the gains from exports. Sixth, Zambia’s support for the liberation movements of Southern Africa and the closure of the border following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Rhodesia seriously affected implementation of development plans, as alternative export routes had to be built, especially the Tanzania -Zambia Railway.