The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade. New Preface and Epilogue with Updates on Economic Issues and Main Characters, 2nd Edition

Prologue

Finding My T-Shirt's Likely Birthplace

Walgreen's Drugstore

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Spring 1999

The civic leaders of Fort Lauderdale have laid new paint over much of the city in recent years. The stoned surfers and rowdy college students are less visible now, pushed away from the beach with its new cafes and high-end hotels. The college students of the 1970s are parents now, and they have money to spend. The city bends toward the money like a palm tree, polishing, sweeping, painting. Yet, like tourist destinations everywhere, a scratch on the shiny paint reveals a bit of the tawdry underneath. Though the city fathers might prefer art galleries, it is T-shirt shops that line the beach because that is what people want to buy.

A large bin of T-shirts sat near the exit of a Walgreen's drugstore near the beach. The bin was positioned to catch shoppers on the way out, and it worked: Nearly everyone who walked by pawed through the bin, if only for a minute. The bin was full of hundreds of T-shirts, each priced at $5.99, or two for $10. All were printed with some Floridian theme, seashells, bright fish, or palm trees.

I reached in and pulled out a shirt. It was white and printed with a flamboyant red parrot, the word ‘‘Florida'’ scripted beneath. I went to the checkout line, and then stepped out into the sun and looked at the shirt through the wrapper.

‘‘You're it,’’ I thought.

Back in Washington, I took the T-shirt out of the poly bag and looked at the label. ...