Natalie Brown The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy In this book, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, Pietra Rivoli, used the life story of a t-shirt to shed light on the complexities of trade and globalization. The main project of the book is to use a simple item, such as a t-shirt, to explain the complicated topic of globalization. The author thought that this topic is important because not many people understand the full idea of globalization. She starts the book out by talking about a group of students that were rallying together and speaking about the negative side globalization. A student brought up the poor working conditions people face in other countries while making our clothes. Pietra Rivoli wanted to find out where and who is making our t-shirts. The life of the t-shirt began in Texas at a cotton farm. From Texas the …show more content…
This is a result of government intervention, such as subsidies, tariffs, and quotas. The role of government intervention in the U.S. leaves other poor countries that produce cotton unable to compete. This has made America the dominant producer of cotton in the world for over two hundred years. The author goes on to tell the story of Ned Cobb. Ned spent his entire life growing cotton in the south. Ned Cobb eventually gave up growing cotton because of government intervention. The author states, “Dealing with bureaucrats meant a brave new world: All of a sudden, if you couldn’t read, you couldn’t farm” (p. 35). In order to receive the government subsidies farmers needed to fill out several different forms. Ned and his wife never learned how to read or write making it seemingly impossible for them to fill out the forms on their own. On the other hand, the government support also benefitted some of the cotton farmers. Through research paid for by the government, farmers are now able to sell and make money off of what used to be considered