Summary: The Travels Of A T-Shirt

Ian Brothers
November 9, 2014
International Studies and Economics LC 34
The Travels of a T-shirt Essay

In The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy Rivoli, an economist, analyzes the global economy through the cotton production in the journey of a T-shirt. The book is written in an interesting and effective manner to reach its goal of educating about the global economy. This book changed my perception on how the global economy functions through developed countries. In this essay, I will be addressing the costs and benefits of globalization.
“Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by

Due to globalization, “demand by Americans for cheap clothing from China leads to demand from China for cotton from America” (Rivoli P. 78) because labor is so cheap in China, American cotton farmers export their cotton to China so American firms can buy T-shirts from China for a very cheap price and then up the price of the shirts in order to make profit. Therefore a benefit of globalization is that it enables increased specialization of production that enables firms to benefit from economies of scale, which leads to lower average costs and increased efficiency.
“Where rich Americans see garbage, much of the rest of the world see’s perfectly fine clothing that can be worn to work or even weddings” (Rivoli P. 222) With globalization and the free market, less developed countries can benefit from non-profit organizations such as the salvation army. These organizations mainly focus on African undeveloped countries and help African customers by clothing them. “As Americans continuously clean out our bigger and bigger but still too-small closets so that we can head back to the

This is because industries in developed countries need protection from the free trade as it acts as a threat to theses industries and holds them back from developing. “The African textile industry has lost to the high-wage workers of America, who live in a land of such plenty that clothing is given away for free” (Rivoli P. 240) Due to free trade and free market, when America sends over bales of clothes, it is taking away from the potential the African textile industry had, therefore putting the industry out of