This book combines research with anecdote to show what occurs in the life of a t-shit from various perspectives. From the different sides of labor negotiations to the different sides of international trade negotiations, Rivoli does a wonderful job at expressing the complexity and the intention of each perspective. Each different perspective shapes the way the t-shirt lives in the economy. Rather than having nefarious reasons, the actors from each perspective respond to the global economy.

Dominance in any world market is tenuous. Industries tend to shift their comparative advantages. Growing cotton seems strange in an advanced economy with high labor costs producing a product that is very homogenous, has intense price competition, and low barriers to entry and yet the U.S. has held dominance in growing cotton for about two centuries. Due to climatic reason for growing cotton, the U.S. is competing with poor African countries who claim that U.S. subsidies violate global trade rules and impoverish African industry.

Subsidies are beneficial to the U.S. cotton industry but U.S. dominance cannot credit everything to subsidies. Subsidies entered the U.S. cotton industry after the industry gained dominance. The people in the U.S. industry have been very creative in figuring out how to enable more efficient cotton production, and has been very responsive to economic shifts. The subsidies do ensure that the farmers have a set minimum income for a year. Many times, the American farms earn more than other countries farmers normally, while still getting a boost from the subsidies. There was a lot of outrage against the cotton subsidies, but they remained intact as the politicians packaged the cotton subsidies with many other beneficiaries to ensure that it had few opponents. Countries whose farmers were hurt by the subsidies do not dislike the American subsidies as much as they want their own government subsidies and protections.

Cotton is extremely susceptible to being damaged by various environmental aspects and risks of various pests taking cotton. Labor for cotton production is temporary making it hard to obtain when needed for production. As cotton is very fragile, cotton prices are very volatile which incur many business risks. For each risk and uncertainty, the cotton industry developed methods to avoid them by either facing them communally or moving production outside the market.

As cotton required labor at uncertain times sporadically, drove cotton production to initially use slavery. To use slaves in the production required developing systems of control, monitoring, and incentives to induce slaves to perform repetitive and exhaustive physical labor. Many unethical practices in the cotton industry stem from the industry’s avoiding and suppressing markets. Other countries with cotton industries which had a large labor force could not increase their production readily because they lacked capitalistic incentives which reward improvement. After slavery ended, the system of sharecropping set root. But sharecropping, rather than providing an incentive to improve, held the farmers back. Alternative farmers started to mechanize their cotton production which yielded more cotton and did not need as much labor. Technology improved the efficiency and efficacy of cotton production. Technology had become more environmentally friendly by being more fuel efficient than before.

Growing cotton now takes more chemicals which is in part alarming and in part beneficial. Chemicals that kill weeds also harm cotton, but cotton became genetically modified to resist the particular chemical. The fear is that chemical resistant weeds will reproduce and create a bigger problem as the offspring will be resistant to the chemical, requiring different chemicals. The chemicals used to kill pest require more chemicals to kill the secondary pests which the initial pests kept under control. The chemicals being used now are far more environmentally friendly than before. Overall, there seems to be much less chemical use than before due to genetically modified cotton. Another problem with the genetic modification and chemicals are the fact that they are owned by Monsanto. Farmers and Monsanto benefit from the relationship, but Monsanto seems to hold concentrated property rights which harm those who do not want to use their products.

Cotton production used to create a lot of waste, but now, the waste is used in other products such as food. The waste sold improves the profitability of the farm. With more efficient cotton sorting mechanism, American cotton has an expected quality while there is a quality risk of other countries cotton. Although farmers have become increasingly solitary due to technology, they have started to ban together politically. Rather than selling their cotton individually and being forced to take a price for their cotton, they have made marketing pools which stores the cotton until the market price is right, at which point the cotton is sold and the farmers get their share. The risk-sharing agreement prevent major losses or gains to any farmer.

In China, where t-shirts tended to be put together have been mechanizing, but some part of production are difficult to mechanize. The sewing stage of the t-shirt is difficult to mechanize and is the preeminent example of sweatshops. Sewing was primarily done by women because their labor was cheaper and their dependents made them more willing to accept the work. Docility and energy were needed in the production, and China’s engineered system of laws produced the workers needed for the labor. Many women now choose sweatshops because it is a better alternative to working on the farm. The factory work provides more autonomy and economic independence.

Many consumers want the products being purchased to be produced with favorable labor practices. Many times in history have corporations and businesses resisted changing their labor practices, but over time, labor practices do change. Many large purchasers have banned together to force corporations to look into improving labor practices, because corporations want to keep their profits. It is in countries with functioning markets in which corporations listen and adjust to what consumers want.

In the production of the t-shirt, central planning loses to capitalistic markets. Central planning ignores incentives to change to markets, does not improve facilities, and crush intelligence. Global trade reduced pollution in production while producing more. Open market countries facilitated clean technologies and adoption of clean technologies in other countries. In globalized production, companies adopt heavier environmental regulations so as to be able to sell to more countries. Market competition creates demand for environmental protection.

The U.S. t-shirt industry influenced politics to limit trade. They are avoiding competition by writing the rules. Presidents and other politicians please the industry in order to get reelected while also trying not to limit the imports from other countries. An outcome of this was as very complicated quota system. A system that was rife with speculation and manipulation. Many policies which were meant to be temporary, either resisted being removed or took a long time to be removed.

The last journey in the life of a t-shirt is how it is recycled. Most t-shirts in the U.S. are donated. The shirts go through sorting company which sells the cloths to those who have need for the particular type of t-shirt or the material that the t-shirt is made out of. Some donated t-shirts can sell for a lot, while others will go on to be rags.

The t-shit is a global product. The actors in its production are bound together. Tying diverse international relationships which otherwise might not have occurred. Some actors retain their competitive edge for a while due to legal, cultural, and innovative means, while other vie the market for their income. The industries which have adapted to the changes have survived and rose to meet demands, while those who resisted adaptation to new circumstance lost preeminence. Rivoli provides a detailed and complex view of the markets in the t-shirt production. Not glorifying or vilifying markets as the industry has many political reactions and implications. Globalized markets with humans writing and changing the rules every day. ( )

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. ( )

A book about economics that everyone should read. Superb. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )