1. The section
I found most interesting was the section that begins with: “How much the
container matters to the world economy is…” a little ways down the screen. What
I found so interesting about it was just how difficult it is to understand what
a container means to the economy. When you think about a container, the initial
perception is that it’s simple—and especially with the amount of resources and
knowledge we have today, we should know what that means. Also noting the
changes over time, and the effects of pretty much insignificant freight costs,
really made me interested in this section.
2. Just two
paragraphs above my selected paragraph contains a paragraph that I felt was
very telling of the overall effect of the container on the global economy. What
Levinson essentially says is that while the development of transportation and
the container does help both the exporter and the importer (which would imply
that in any given situation, it helps everyone), he also points out the
difficulties with containers, especially considering no one ACTUALLY knows what
is going on inside. Overall, I get the impression that Levinson chooses to
convey that the container is somewhat mysterious in what its actual effect is.
In fact, at one point he says how it is impossible to quantify the actual
effect on the world economy.
3. In terms of
global transportation, I could see the gainers and losers varying depending on
the situation (meaning time, items, etc). Overall, lower transportation costs
seem to benefit the consumers the most, as they will be able to buy cheaper
products. It’s why so many made in China or Bangladesh labels are seen, it’s
because they’re cheaper, both due to transportation costs, and production costs
(but I won’t get into that right now…). It may also be beneficial to the
exporting country, as they will have more buyers for their products. Overall, I
think it would definitely depend on the situation.
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