CONTAINERS AND GLOBALIZATION.

CONTAINERS AND GLOBALIZATION. Rose George’s title—90% OF EVERYTHING—is inspired by a poll of residents of Southampton, England, which is a port city whose inhabitants are well aware of the shipping industry. The poll asked what percentage of goods they thought traveled by sea. The respondents came in well short of the correct answer, which is 90%. The dramatic reduction in shipping costs from using containers has made possible a large increase in long-distance trade in all kinds of goods. Professor Jasanoff quotes Rose George on the market for filleting fish. It is cheaper to send Scottish cod to China to be filleted and then sent back to Scottish restaurants than it is to pay Scottish filleters to do the work. Professor Jasanoff describes some of the consequences. Workers in the West lose jobs. Asia gets better paid jobs. Western consumers save money.