How the world ran out of everything : inside the global supply chain / Peter S. Goodman.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York : Mariner Books [2024]Copyright date: ©2024Edition: First editionDescription: viii, 406 pages ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 0063257920
- 9780063257924
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 658.7 G653 | Processing | 33111011370182 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
By the New York Times's Global Economics Correspondent, an extraordinary journey to understand the worldwide supply chain--exposing both the fascinating pathways of manufacturing and transportation that bring products to your doorstep, and the ruthless business logic that has left local communities at the mercy of a complex and fragile network for their basic necessities.
"A tale that will change how you look at the world." --Mark Leibovich
One of Foreign Policy's "Most Anticipated Books of 2024"
How does the wealthiest country on earth run out of protective gear in the middle of a public health catastrophe? How do its parents find themselves unable to locate crucially needed infant formula? How do its largest companies spend billions of dollars making cars that no one can drive for a lack of chips?
The last few years have radically highlighted the intricacy and fragility of the global supply chain. Enormous ships were stuck at sea, warehouses overflowed, and delivery trucks stalled. The result was a scarcity of everything from breakfast cereal to medical devices, from frivolous goods to lifesaving necessities. And while the scale of the pandemic shock was unprecedented, it underscored the troubling reality that the system was fundamentally at risk of descending into chaos all along. And it still is. Sabotaged by financial interests, loss of transparency in markets, and worsening working conditions for the people tasked with keeping the gears turning, our global supply chain has become perpetually on the brink of collapse.
In How the World Ran Out of Everything, award-winning journalist Peter S. Goodman reveals the fascinating innerworkings of our supply chain and the factors that have led to its constant, dangerous vulnerability. His reporting takes readers deep into the elaborate system, showcasing the triumphs and struggles of the human players who operate it--from factories in Asia and an almond grower in Northern California, to a group of striking railroad workers in Texas, to a truck driver who Goodman accompanies across hundreds of miles of the Great Plains. Through their stories, Goodman weaves a powerful argument for reforming a supply chain to become truly reliable and resilient, demanding a radical redrawing of the bargain between labor and shareholders, and deeper attention paid to how we get the things we need.
From one of the most respected economic journalists working today, How the World Ran Out of Everything is a fiercely smart, deeply informative look at how our supply chain operates, and why its reform is crucial--not only to avoid dysfunction in our day to day lives, but to protect the fate of our global fortunes.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 359-391) and index.
Prologue: "The world has fallen apart." -- Part I: The great supply chain disruption. "Just get this made in China." : the origins of the factory floor of the world -- "Everyone is competing for a supply located in a single country." : the pandemic reveals the folly -- "No waste more terrible than overproduction." : the roots of just in time -- "The lean Taliban" : how the consulting class hijacked just in time -- "Everybody wants everything." : the epic miscalculation of global business -- "An entire new way of handling freight" : how a steel box shrunk the globe -- "Carriers are robbing shippers." : the floating cartel -- Part II: Across the water. "The land of the forgotten" : how farmers got stuck on the wrong side of the water -- "I think I've heard of them." : the new sheriff on the docks -- "Everything is out of whack." : floating in purgatory -- "Crazy and dangerous" : life on the docks -- "Is it worth even getting up in the morning?" : the unremitting misery of the dray -- "Building railroads from nowhere to nowhere at public expense" : how investors looted the locomotive -- "The almighty operating ratio" : modern-day pillaging of the rails -- "Sweatshops on wheels" : the long, torturous road -- "Thank you for what you're doing to those grocery store shelves stocked." : how the meat industry sacrificed workers for profits -- "We do not have a free market." : how monopolists exploited the pandemic -- Part III: Globalization comes home. "We just need some diversity." : the search for factories beyond China -- "Globalization is almost dead." : bringing factory job home -- "Okay, Mexico, same me." : how the global supply chain turned its back on the water -- "People don't want to do those jobs." : robots and the future of shareholder gratification -- Conclusion: "A great sacrifice for you" : redrawing the false bargain.
"In 'How the World Ran Out of Everything,' . . . journalist Peter S. Goodman reveals the fascinating innerworkings of our supply chain and the factors that have led to its constant, dangerous vulnerability. His reporting takes readers deep into the elaborate system, showcasing the triumphs and struggles of the human players who operate it--from factories in Asia and an almond grower in Northern California, to a group of striking railroad workers in Texas, to a truck driver who Goodman accompanies across hundreds of miles of the Great Plains. Through their stories, Goodman weaves a powerful argument for reforming a supply chain to become truly reliable and resilient, demanding a radical redrawing of the bargain between labor and shareholders, and deeper attention paid to how we get the things we need"-- Amazon.com.