Lauded by the New York Times, Financial Times, and reviewers worldwide, this enlightening book has been the recipient of numerous awards. The story takes readers on a fascinating, around-the-world journey to reveal economic and political lessons from the life story of a simple t-shirt. Looking closely at the lives of Texas cotton farmers, Chinese textile workers, and other players in the t-shirt's story, Rivoli illustrates crucial lessons in the globalization debate, including its costs for communities around the world. This edition includes a new epilogue.
Praise for THE TRAVELS OF A T-SHIRT IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
"Engrossing . . . (Rivoli) goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner . . . full of memorable characters and vivid scenes."
-Time
"An engaging and illuminating saga. . . . Rivoli follows her T-shirt along its route, but that is like saying that Melville follows his whale. . . . Her nuanced and fair-minded approach is all the more powerful for eschewing the pretense of ideological absolutism, and her telescopic look through a single industry has all the makings of an economics classic."
-The New York Times
"Rarely is a business book so well written that one would gladly stay up all night to finish it. Pietra Rivoli's The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is just such a page-turner."
-CIO magazine
"Succeeds admirably . . . T-shirts may not have changed the world, but their story is a useful account of how free trade and protectionism certainly have."
-Financial Times
"[A] fascinating exploration of the history, economics, and politics of world trade . . . The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is a thought-provoking yarn that exhibits the ugly, the bad, and the good of globalization, and points to the unintended positive consequences of the clash between proponents and opponents of free trade."
-Star-Telegram (Fort Worth)
"Part travelogue, part history, and part economics, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is ALL storytelling, and in the grand style. A must-read."
-Peter J. Dougherty, Senior Economics Editor, Princeton University Press author of Who's Afraid of Adam Smith?
"A readable and evenhanded treatment of the complexities of free trade . . . As Rivoli repeatedly makes clear, there is absolutely nothing free about free trade except the slogan."
-San Francisco Chronicle
Table of contents:
Preface.
Prologue.
PART I: KING COTTON.
Chapter 1. Reinsch Cotton Farm, Smyer, Texas.
Chapter 2. The History of American Cotton.
Chapter 3. Back at the Reinsch Farm.
PART II: MADE IN CHINA.
Chapter 4. Cotton Comes to China.
Chapter 5. The Long Race to The Bottom.
Chapter 6. Sisters in Time.
PART III: TROUBLE AT THE BORDER.
Chapter 7. Dogs Snarling Together.
Chapter 8. Perverse Effects and Unintended.
Consequences of T-Shirt Trade Policy.
Chapter 9. 40 Years of "Temporary" Protectionism.
PART IV: MY T-SHIRT FINALLY ENCOUNTERS A FREE MARKET.
Chapter 10. Where T-Shirts Go after the Salvation Army Bin.
Chapter 11. How Small Entrepreneurs Clothe East Africa with Old American T-Shirts.
Conclusion.
Epilogue to the Paperback Edition.
Acknowledgments.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.
Praise for THE TRAVELS OF A T-SHIRT IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
"Engrossing . . . (Rivoli) goes wherever the T-shirt goes, and there are surprises around every corner . . . full of memorable characters and vivid scenes."
-Time
"An engaging and illuminating saga. . . . Rivoli follows her T-shirt along its route, but that is like saying that Melville follows his whale. . . . Her nuanced and fair-minded approach is all the more powerful for eschewing the pretense of ideological absolutism, and her telescopic look through a single industry has all the makings of an economics classic."
-The New York Times
"Rarely is a business book so well written that one would gladly stay up all night to finish it. Pietra Rivoli's The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is just such a page-turner."
-CIO magazine
"Succeeds admirably . . . T-shirts may not have changed the world, but their story is a useful account of how free trade and protectionism certainly have."
-Financial Times
"[A] fascinating exploration of the history, economics, and politics of world trade . . . The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is a thought-provoking yarn that exhibits the ugly, the bad, and the good of globalization, and points to the unintended positive consequences of the clash between proponents and opponents of free trade."
-Star-Telegram (Fort Worth)
"Part travelogue, part history, and part economics, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is ALL storytelling, and in the grand style. A must-read."
-Peter J. Dougherty, Senior Economics Editor, Princeton University Press author of Who's Afraid of Adam Smith?
"A readable and evenhanded treatment of the complexities of free trade . . . As Rivoli repeatedly makes clear, there is absolutely nothing free about free trade except the slogan."
-San Francisco Chronicle
Table of contents:
Preface.
Prologue.
PART I: KING COTTON.
Chapter 1. Reinsch Cotton Farm, Smyer, Texas.
Chapter 2. The History of American Cotton.
Chapter 3. Back at the Reinsch Farm.
PART II: MADE IN CHINA.
Chapter 4. Cotton Comes to China.
Chapter 5. The Long Race to The Bottom.
Chapter 6. Sisters in Time.
PART III: TROUBLE AT THE BORDER.
Chapter 7. Dogs Snarling Together.
Chapter 8. Perverse Effects and Unintended.
Consequences of T-Shirt Trade Policy.
Chapter 9. 40 Years of "Temporary" Protectionism.
PART IV: MY T-SHIRT FINALLY ENCOUNTERS A FREE MARKET.
Chapter 10. Where T-Shirts Go after the Salvation Army Bin.
Chapter 11. How Small Entrepreneurs Clothe East Africa with Old American T-Shirts.
Conclusion.
Epilogue to the Paperback Edition.
Acknowledgments.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.