Box: How The Shipping Container Made The World Smaller And The World Economy Bigger - 06 edition

Summary: ''The continuous decline of ocean shipping costs in the last 40 years is rarely credited for the growth of global trade in contemporary literature. Don't miss this amazing history.''--George Stalk, Boston Consulting Group and author ofSurviving the China Riptide ''An excellent piece of work.''--Bruce Nelson, Dartmouth College ''This book is dynamite. The experts who tell you the transistor and microchips changed the world are off base. The ugly, unglamorous, little-noticed shipping c ...show moreontainer has changed the world. Without it, there would be no globalization, no Wal-Mart, maybe even no high-tech. And what looks like low-tech is in fact a breathtaking technological innovation. Marc Levinson's sparkling and authoritative story is great fun to read, but it is spectacular economic history as well.''--Peter L. Bernstein, author ofAgainst the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk ''Fascinating, informative, wonderfully historicized. This is a terrific untold story.''--Nelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara, and editor ofWal-Mart: the Face of Twenty-First Century Capitalism ''The adoption of the modern shipping container may be a close second to the Internet in the way it has changed our lives. It has made products from every corner of the world commonplace and accessible everywhere. It has dramatically cut the cost of transportation and thereby made outsourcing a significant issue. It has transformed the world's port cities, and more. This book, very nicely written, makes a fascinating set of true stories of an apparently mundane subject, and dramatically illustrates how simple innovations can transform our lives.''--William Baumol, Director, Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, author ofThe Free-Market Innovation Machine ...show less

Edition/Copyright: 06
Cover: Paperback
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 01/07/2008

View Author Bio

Marc Levinson is an economist in New York and author of three previous books

View Review

This book is dynamite. The experts who tell you the transistor and microchips changed the world are off base. The ugly, unglamorous, little-noticed shipping container has changed the world. Without it, there would be no globalization, no Wal-Mart, maybe even no high-tech. And what looks like low-tech is in fact a breathtaking technological innovation. Marc Levinson's sparkling and authoritative story is great fun to read, but it is spectacular economic history as well.

View Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1: The World the Box Made 1
Chapter 2: Gridlock on the Docks 16
Chapter 3: The Trucker 36
Chapter 4: The System 54
Chapter 5: The Battle for New York's Port 76
Chapter 6: Union Disunion 101
Chapter 7: Setting the Standard 127
Chapter 8: Takeoff 150
Chapter 9: Vietnam 171
Chapter 10: Ports in a Storm 189
Chapter 11: Boom and Bust 212
Chapter 12: The Bigness Complex 231
Chapter 13: The Shippers' Revenge 245
Chapter 14: Just in Time 264
Abbreviations 279
Notes 281
Bibliography 343
Index 365