"The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger" by Marc Levinson: Chapter 1

1.  A selection that I found particularly interesting was when the author was talking about the movement of shipping crates.  I never did realize how many crates were actually being moved at a fairly quick rate.  It seems that the unloading and loading of crates is a well oiled machine that has revolutionized the movement of goods.  "The process is repeated every two minutes, or even every ninety seconds, each crane moving 30 or 40 boxes an hour from ship to dock."  The crane is simultaneously loading and unloading the ship for the next shipment.  It is absolutely astonishing to me how many goods are being moved in such a short amount of time now.

2.  The author sees that the development of the shipping container has drastically contributed to globalization.  This is even clear in the title of the book "how the shipping container made the world smaller..."  The world truly has become smaller.  The author describes how a shipment of 35-tons of coffeemakers can move 11,000 miles around the world in as little as 22 days.  The author also talks about how pharmaceutical companies would not even see the benefit from trying to send drugs abroad because of the shipping costs but nowadays, with very limited shipping costs, it is possible to ship necessary drugs virtually anywhere.  In addition, the author talks about how other countries are getting involved.  For example, although Apple computers are designed and developed in California, these crates make it possible for Apple to ship raw materials to China, and in return, get thousands of Macbook Pros.  The shipping container has certainly contributed greatly to globalization.

3.  I believe that it is pretty clear who will gain and lose from this major transformation of global transportation.  First of all, it is pretty clear that big businesses will gain from this change.  Companies are reducing their shipping costs greatly with the change in transportation.  Any money that was previously spent on shipping is now profit.  In addition, this change will lead to expansion because companies will be able to ship their goods all over the world with very little costs.  In addition, this can create jobs for underdeveloped countries.  Big businesses will send raw materials to where the labor is cheap, creating thousands of jobs in underdeveloped countries.  On the other hand, this means that the same businesses will be cutting jobs in the United States and moving them to where the labor in cheap. The author also touches on how small businesses will suffer from this transformation.  "...factories in Malaysia could deliver blouses to Macy's in Herald Square more cheaply than could blouse manufacturers in the nearby lofts of New York's garment district."  This does not seem like it will turn out well for small businesses who do not have to ability to lower prices to compete with these global businesses.