In today’s
interconnected world,
even the simplest products can have complicated and counterintuitive stories we never see.
Whether a microchip or potato chip, an item’s journey from idea to doorstep can involve countless people in countless places, seamlessly cooperating in a global web of suppliers.
The product’s label might say:
XL | Made in Mexico
100% cotton
machine wash cold | tumble dry low | iron low
But that’s only part of the story – and a small one at that.
As you scroll down and click through the interactive globe below, you’ll likely be surprised by just how complex this “simple” item really is, by how many people here and abroad were involved in getting the shirt to your home, and by where most of the shirt’s value actually originated.
Skeptics often mention “cheap T‑shirts” from abroad
as an insufficient counterweight to globalization’s supposed costs, but our T‑shirt’s journey shows that even the simplest of goods today generates economic activity far beyond its manufacture and consumption.
Unfortunately, the most common anti‐globalization narratives are not just inaccurate; they ignore the fundamental humanity of globalization and that, for all its foibles and missteps, global capitalism’s long‐term direction is undeniably positive. Frustrated by the ossifying conventional wisdom that, actually, globalization has been mostly Bad, we set out to launch this Cato project, which will both correct the record and offer a strong, proactive case for more global integration in the years ahead.
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