Shipping Containers: Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt

[jebr]

The Planet Money T-shirts traveled around the world on their way to you. The women’s shirt was made in Colombia, from cotton grown in the U.S. The men’s shirt was made in Indonesia and Bangladesh.


All this travel was made affordable by one simple innovation: the shipping container.

Big metal boxes might not seem like an innovation. But without the humble container, the global economy wouldn’t be nearly as global as it is — and the Planet Money T-shirt wouldn’t have been made the way it was.

Read more: http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/boxes

 

[railiner]

And for more reading on the subject......I recommend: "The Box.....How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger", by Marc Levinson, 2006, Princeton University Press

It covers the past, present, and a look into the future of the shipping container.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

International shipping is a very interesting topic. But when factoring the true cost don't forget to include decades worth of military operations required to keep oil producing countries safe from attack so that the ships have fuel. Or the money spent to keep modern day pirates at bay so that the ships can pass safely. Or the cost of fighting invasive species brought over by foreign ships. Or the cost of recovering from poisonous pet food, toothpaste, sheetrock, etc. from unregulated foreign sources. Or the cost of addressing the effects of pollution emitted from huge fleets of ever larger ships burning more and more fossil fuel. Of the financial hit that comes from losing millions of local jobs and domestic revenue. If the full cost of shipping everything around the world was paid at the time of purchase all these foreign products we import wouldn't be nearly as cheap as we think they are today.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Chris is Correct! International Trade is Very Confusing as It Was Basically Designed by Lawyers and Bean Counters and implemented by Diplomats Instructed by Politicians! Economics 101 asks: What is the True Cost of Something and How Much Do You Charge to Make a Large Profit while Keeping the True Figures from Consumers???