Week 6 - Friday (The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger)

a. Identify a selection from this chapter that you found particularly interesting and explain why you selected it.

"What is it about the container that is so important? Surely not the thing itself. A soulless aluminum or steel box held together with welds and rivets, with a wooden floor and two enormous doors at one end: the standard container has all the romance of a tin can. The value of this utilitarian object lies not in what it is, but in how it is used. The container is at the core of a highly automated system for moving goods from anywhere, to anywhere, with a minimum of cost and complication on the way."

The selection basically summarizes everything the chapter has to offer and poses the question that everyone should ask first: what really is so special about the container anyways? Containers have no engine, no wheels. It does not provide people with enough fascination to captivate their attentions unlike ships, trains and planes. They lack the flash to draw attention from those who study technological innovation. What effect can this possibly have on global economy? According to author, its impact is grand.

b. How does author see the development of the shipping container contributing to globalization?

            Just as you should not judge a book by its cover, do not look down on the shipping container because it lacks fancy look. The author speaks very highly of it, because of its impact on globalization. "The container is at the core of a highly automated system for moving goods from anywhere, to anywhere, with a minimum of cost and complication on the way." The container made it possible for the shipping system to become cheap and impact global economy.

One thing author admits is that it destroyed the old economy. However, it led to a new one, if not better one. "Sleepy harbors such as Busan and Seattle moved into the front ranks of the world's ports." Large new ports popped up in England and Thailand where none existed before.

            "Those who had no wish to go international, who sought only to serve their local clientele, learned that they had no choice: like it or not, they were competing globally because the global market was coming to them. "This new system allowed firms whose ambitions had been purely domestic to become international companies; it became feasible to export their products to faraway places just as easily as to places nearby.

c. Who do you see gaining & losing from this transformation of global transportation?

Winners:

1) Consumers: they enjoy more choices due to the global trade the container has stimulated. "By one careful study, the United States imported four times as many varieties of goods in 2002 as in 1972." Also, the ready availability of inexpensive imported consumer goods has boosted living standards around the world.

2) Exporters and importers: they have easier time transporting their products in and out of the country.

Loser:

1) Customs inspectors and security officials: although each container has listing of its contents, neither ship lines nor ports can vouch that the list is telling the truth. Also, there exists no easy way of checking: "opening the doors at the end of the box normally reveals only a wall of paperboard cartons."