A T-shirt Epic Essay

Pietra Rivolis delightful narrative, The Travels of A jersey in the world-wide Economy, goes about a surprising journey around the global village to discover an entangled wind vane of economic and political forces that move this piece of clothing around.The book is split into four parts of a t-shirts life. Part one of the book deals with the cotton fiber intentness. Rivolis own surprise at learning that the cotton used for her shirt comes from Texas opens up this chapter on the go on dominance of the American cotton industry. The book then continues to explain the reasons for thesea facial expression from government subsidies, the larger part of Americas continuing competitive advantage is its virtuous cycle of governance. In the United States, the farms work, the market works, the government works, the science works, and the universities work. (Rivoli 7).The secant part of the book is about the material industrys so c e very(prenominal)ed race to the bottom. industrial ente rprise is ushered in by the textile industry, and Rivoli gives events from 19th century England to the Asian economic powerhouses Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong in the twentieth century. The third part is about the complexity of getting a textile import into the United States, with all the confusing legislation brought about by decades of political control held by textile manufacturers in America. In the final part of the book, Rivoli examines the global market for used t-shirts, which she concedes is the final place where markets actually determine its ascendant and destination.Free Trade or Protectionism The author is not making an argument for either protectionism or drop trade. Obviously, as a trained economist, Rivoli favors free trade, as do all her colleagues in an almost hearty voice. However, the book does not argue for either side, and instead illustrates that both sides of this policy divide unwittingly spikelet economic development.Free trade policies encourage mo re races to the bottom as production shifts to low make up countries however protectionist policies also contribute to another type of race. In the battle for quota imports to the United States, for example, investment has flowed into areas where in that respect is less restriction on trade with the worlds largest consumer of textiles and apparel.In the modern-day case with China, the comparatively low quota limits that China has for its exports to the US before the expiration of the Multifiber Agreement (MFA) (Rivoli 121) has encouraged investments in other growth countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Sub-Saharan Africa. As the book notes, the exclusion of one creates opportunities for another, and the humble textile industry is the first step towards industrialization for many developing nations. As Rivoli further notes, when the MFA was scheduled to be interpreted down, a lot of other developing countries were scared of China eating everyones share of the textile pie. I t represents one of the few actually plausible pro-protectionist arguments in the book, which are not really argued for but skillful explained.The role of politics in international tradeIts a given fact that politicians testament listen more practically that not to their constituents first instead of to common sense. Unfortunate as it whitethorn be, politics more often than not counter the market forces that power the global race to the bottom. Rivoli puts it as While the market forces powering the race to the bottom are pie-eyed, the political forces pushing back against the markets are strong as well, particularly in the United States. (Rivoli 115)This clash between the two has made importation of textiles a very complicated business in the United States, and changes the face of international trade with it. If an item cannot be imported from China, it is imported from Mexico instead, giving an artificial advantage to some countries that ordain not be in that location if mark et forces were solely in control. The decisions that politicians like congressmen and senators in Washington make often influence the very futures of some countries in the world.Rivoli characterizes American industries that are aging as trying to escape market forces by clinging on to their political supports. Instead of a paradise of no intervention and perfect competition, what happens is that more often politics exert a big unpredictable force that tilts the equation over completely.Another example was 18th century England, where to no avail Parliament tried to pass acts that would protect their domestic sheepskin producers. Instead of having the intended consequences (i.e. eliminating imported cotton), it just pushed international trade to adapt to the circumstances.The race to the bottom excogitate used so much in the book is one of the most intriguing ideas of Rivoli. Basically it says that the textile industry, like all industries is governed by market forces. On the supply side, producers seek more and more productiveness for lower costsa reaction that sparked the original Industrial Revolution. However, as wages go up along with production costs, producers are keen on reducing costs and preserving low prices with huge markets. These trends crack of doom an industrial countrys textile production after it becomes less competitive than another draw a bead on country who is not the leader in the bottom of production costs.The fire of the Industrial Revolution air to the United States, and then in the last century to Asia, where during the past twenty or so age China has held the spot as top in this ubiquitous race to the bottom.The other side of the argumentthose activists who bring about higher minimum wages and better labor standards, press forward the resignation of a country from the race to the bottom, but at the same time also hasten industrialization and the development of other more value-added industries. It also makes another country lead er of the race to the bottom, nimble to start the cycle all over again.This history repeats itself phenomenonfrom Britain to Taiwan leaves the reader enthusiastic of the future, and of how economics will eventually make all the people of the world feel a little bit better.R E F E R E N C ERivoli, Pietra. The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. New Jersey Wiley, 2005.