"Junkyard Planet" by Adam Minter

A.         Pretty earlier on, you got the sense that much of what Minter would be focusing on would be about price. And as is the case with this question, that turns out to be the truth. On pages 94 and 95, Minter talks about his dialogue with Howard, and lays out all the reasons why India would be a prime market for scrap. However, as we expected, it is more expensive to ship to India (about 5 cents more per pound) which, in a time when efficiency is the name of the game, just isn’t going to cut it. Furthermore, India doesn’t enjoy the discounts because they do not share trade as substantial as the trade China shares with the United States.

B.         On pages 100-101, when Minter is talking with Sunil, I felt this best illustrated a larger issue related to globalization. While it does help out some countries who fall under the right criteria, it can hurt others who cannot afford to keep up. This is India compared to China. One of the most telling parts is when Minter explains that the cost of shipping would kill any sort of possible deal between Sunil and an American company, and Sunil is clearly disappointed. Furthermore, the poverty in India, as evidenced by an earlier note stating that the workers earn far less, implies that globalization has not helped with the standard of living there, and likely in many other countries as well.

C.         Relating this to the Diamond article we read earlier in the term, I would assume that a lot of times, you kind of just luck out with where you are in the world. I would imagine that if China and India were switched, then it may switch their fortunes as well. India is pretty much as far from the US as you can get, and China is simply across the Pacific Ocean. Because of how secluded India is comparatively to other countries, they haven’t been able to develop as rapidly (although we are quickly seeing that change).