Travels of a T-shirt - Part 1

 In the first part of the book Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy we are presented the ideas of trade politics, power and development, with examples from Texas to China. The idea is that a simple product like a T-shirt can represent a complex and enormous system, with a political base, not just economic as many would believe. 

At first, we have a perspective on Texas cotton farms, one of the most productive enterprises in the world. Although they bring enormous revenue, these farms are also very subsidized, which means that they have a lot of incentives from its government, billions of dollars that allow these farms to keep thriving. When comparing these cotton farms to the ones in West Africa, we see unbalanced chances in the so-called "free" market. The author challenges the term free, indicating that this freedom does not mean that every State has the same opportunities, but their governments shape this market. She also makes the point that by having this impact in the economy, the cotton farmers have a lot of political influence, even being a small group of people. They have the advantage of being organized and influential, and this shapes their economy more than simply money. 

 Then, Rivoli brings China to the center of the discussion, once the cotton produced in U.S. is exported to China. She presents questioning, trying to answer why the cotton is sent to a foreign factories and not national ones. We are present to the process in where China became a world factory, when opened its economy and allowed cheap labor and a exportation-focused economy. Pietra talks about the difficult labor conditions, but compares to the absolute poverty in rural environments, where the situation could be even worse, then presenting that the cheap labor is for many people a good option, from their perspective. For China, this system is a opportunity to win jobs, for U.S., a opportunity to win products for a cheap price. For African farmers or U.S. producers, there is more losing than wining, in this uneven market. 

The author show that our free-market is not a natural structure, but heavily political and influenced by authors like WTO. She also expresses that it is hard to point the bad/good actors, since if U.S. stop the subsidies its population would be the group to suffer, and similarly, if the China's factories are closed, many will be devastated without jobs.