A very interesting book that I had the privelege of reading recently was “The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy“, you can follow the link for a preview of the book on Google books.
Granted, this book isn’t for everybody. If you’re similar to me and interested in understanding how global economies and trade work this would be an interesting read for you. The author, Pietra Rivoli, goes into much painstaking detail about how tee-shirts are brought into the market…and beyond.
This book covers everything from the history of cotton growing, including the invention of the Gin by Eli Whitney, to shredded t-shirt bi-products and global re-selling of used shirts in specialty shops and Africa. It’s quite interesting to see how tee-shirts are made and distributed, a great read for sure.
If you consider that a pack of tee-shirts can be purchased at your neighborhood retail outlet for under $10/pack it does make you wonder “how is this possible”. You may even consider the possibility that the tee-shirts are manufactured by some 12 year old locked into a factory. I’m not saying that they always are, I’m just saying that tee-shirts are inexpensive, and there has to be some margin for profit.
If you have any interest in global markets & trade this is a book you should consider reading. Likewise if you have previously read and enjoyed books like “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman, you’ll most definitely enjoy reading this book as well.
