Travels of a T-Shirt questions - revised - All Answers are Correct
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PSC 204 International Relations
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PSC 204 International Relations
Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, 2
nd Ed.
Chapter by Chapter Questions for Content and Discussion
KING COTTON
Chapter 1: How America has Dominated the Global Cotton Industry for 200 Years
Questions for Content:
1. Consider the various risks faced by cotton growers each season. How ...
2 nd ed chapter by chapter questions for content and discussion king cotton chapter 1 how america has dominated t
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Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, 2nd Ed.
Chapter by Chapter Questions for Content and Discussion
KING COTTON
Chapter 1: How America has Dominated the Global Cotton Industry for 200 Years
Questions for Content:
1. Consider the various risks faced by cotton growers each season. How are they different or similar to the risks faced in other
businesses?
- Cotton can’t be too hot or too cold
- Can’t have too much water or too little
- Hail, rain, weeds, and pests are bad
- Business issues
- Volatile prices, labor market risk, foreign competition, access to financing
2. In the United States, 1,000 acres is capable of providing enough cotton lint to produce how many t-shirts per year?
Around 1.3 million t-shirts
2. Approximately how many countries around the world produce cotton? Are these countries predominantly in the
developing or developed world?
These countries are predominantly in developing countries in the world. Over 70 countries produce cotton
3. By what measures does the United States dominate the world cotton industry today?
It dominates the world cotton industry in virtually every measure due to government subsidies, entrepreneurial
creativity of US growers, institutions have helped as well as governance mechanisms
4. To what does Oxfam, the British NGO, attribute the dominance of American cotton growers?
Oxfam believes it has been because of the skill of collecting government subsidies
5. Does the author agree with Oxfam? Explain.
No. He believes that the dominance of American cotton growers is all much more complex.
-dominance of U.S. industry predates by well over century the implementation of national farm subsidies
-subsidy explanation for America’s dominance gives short shrift to astounding entrepreneurial creativity of
American growers.
Subsidies alone can’t explain U.S. dominance in cotton industries, but they are one example of a much broader
phenomenon that has contributed to U.S. farmers’ seemingly immutable spot at the top.
“There’s no doubt that subsidies are big and little doubt that they are unfair to poor countries. but anyone who believes
that America’s competitive power in the global cotton industry reduces to government subsidies should spend some
time near Lubbock, Texas. While the subsidies, are of course, a boon to the U.S. producers, the success of cotton
growers such as Nelson Reinsch is a much more complex phenomenon.”
6. Explain how and why cotton remains a “sticking point” in global trade negotiations.
Cotton remains a sticking point in global trade negotiations because it’s the most common global trade and cotton
provides a lot of things to other people. Cotton is not grown in a lot of places so cotton will always be the sticking point.
US cotton growers have since the beginning been embedded in a set of institutions that insulate them from the full
strength of a variety of market forces
7. Does the author consider the West Texas cotton growers she met to be “tradition bound”? Is tradition a strength or a
weakness when competing in this industry?
Travels_of_a_T-Shirt_questions - revised.doc 1
, The author does not consider the West Texas cotton growers to be “tradition bound”, but rather open minded and forward.
These traits were considered a regional trait as well as a comparative advantage, or innovation bound, whereas farmers in
poor countries are tradition bound
Chapter 2: Winning by Ducking the Labor Markets
Questions for Content:
1. Which country was the world’s leading cotton producer throughout most of the 19th century? Which country was largest
consumer of cotton?
England was the largest consumer, and the US was the largest producer
2. During the period leading up to the Civil War, was U.S. cotton farmed primarily for domestic or foreign consumption?
Cotton was primarily export oriented. It was for foreign consumption.
3. According to the author, why did US cotton production so dramatically overtake production in other areas of the world in
the period preceding the Civil War?
Cotton production in the US overtook production in other areas because of slave plantation, they were able to produce
more cotton and export more to other countries
4. How did the institution of slavery affect the risks faced by cotton plantation owners?
Slavery was the first significant American “public policy” that served to protect cotton growers from the perils in a
competitive market. For a number of reasons, relying on a competitive labor market- rather than on captive slaves – was a
risk that growers were loath to assume, and it was also a risk that would have likely preluded the explosive growth in
American cotton production
5. What were the challenges associated with relying on a traditional labor market in producing cotton in the pre-Civil War
period?
always having the constant help of workers who guarded the young plants against their encroachment because cotton
plants are so ender that they’re not able to hold its own against the weeds. The timing and intensity of each of these tasks
was dictated by weather, so the growers were unable to predict their labor requirements beyond the weather forecast.
Relying on the market to supply the right number of workers at the right time was a business gamble that cotton farmers
preferred to avoid
6. Consider 2 different labor “systems” in cotton production: the “company town” and sharecropping. (a) Briefly explain
each system. (b) What features do these systems have in common? (c) In what ways did these systems benefit US cotton
producers? (d) Why did the unpredictability of the weather favor such systems, from the perspective of the cotton grower?
Company town – community managed for purpose of cotton production served to ensure workers were around when
cotton needed to be planted, weeded, and harvested
Sharecropping – worker who instead of being paid is given shares of the final crop, in exchange for working, farmers
provided the sharecroppers with housing and food, as well as the right to hunt and to fish. By providing housing and food,
rather than cash, the landowner bound to the worker to the property and assured himself of labor at critical times
7. Consider Eli Whitney’s experience. Why do you think he was willing to devote time to inventing the cotton gin?
Eli Whitney was intrigued by cotton and the fact that he may be able to create a machine that could overcome the obstacles
of separating cotton from its seeds
I think the main reason Whitney devoted his time to inventing the cotton gin was because miller said he would bear the
whole expense, and if whitney didn’t succeed, he should lose nothing but his time, but if he did succeed they would share
the profits
8. The author writes on page 18, “All of the Eli Whitney’s in China had no reason to try…” Explain the lesson implicit in this
statement for communities and countries that wish to encourage innovation.
There needs to be a reward for working hard
8. How did the America South cope with the loss of its slave labor at the conclusion of the Civil War?
Travels_of_a_T-Shirt_questions - revised.doc 2
, the cotton economy of the south survived because public policy evolved to continue to protect the growers from the
perils of the labor markets. Labor requirements in cotton production remained highly seasonal, and the challenge was
still to have sufficient labor available at critical but unpredictable times in the cotton cycle
Chapter 3: Back at the Reinsch Farm
Questions for Content
1. How have academic institutions contributed to the competitiveness of the Texas cotton industry?
Cotton research and a focus on improving the industry and providing new technologies and innovation
2. What influence did the cotton labor cycle and cultural factors have on the mechanization of cotton production in different
regions of the Atmerican South?
At one point in time all cotton was produced in eastern US.
- most innovations in cotton production spread from west to east
- not innovating in the south
- old south: mule farming
- texas: tractor farming
- four stages of cotton production: all is mule powered, some mule some tractor, some tractor some handpicked,
all tractor a little handpicked
- there was little need in the deep south to move from stage 1-2
- southern farmers were faithfully attached to tradition and reluctant to change (culture) attachment to the
animals themselves
3. What actions and programs did the U.S. government take and institute in the 1940s to address the labor shortages facing
cotton growers in the South? Did these actions alleviate the concerns of Southern cotton farmers?
- congress authorized the bracero program in 1942 allowing Mexican labor to enter the US for short periods to work in
agriculture
-illustrates the political influence that enabled cotton farmers to avoid competitive markets
- this eventually left the growers at the peril of a competitive labor market
- what the growers wanted: labor available on demand, know in advanced what labor would cost, wanted a guarantee that
the labor would be productive
4. What was the U.S. government’s intention when it passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act as part of the New Deal? How
did the program affect sharecroppers like Ned Cobb?
- government introduced price supports for agricultural products and the concept of paying farmers to take land of productive
- objective: for the government payments to put a safety net under rural poverty while at the same time helping commodity prices
to stabilize
- the sharecroppers did not have the means to fight the landlord for his share of the government’s payments
- it imitated sharecroppers out of farming
- many large farmers used the government money to buy tractors and “tractored out” smaller farmers
- too much government intervention for farmers who can’t read/write
5. Which invention once and for all freed US cotton farmers from their dependence from the risks of erratic labor supply and
availability? Conversely, what new problems did this invention introduce?
The cotton gin. The new problem it produced was solidifying the slave plantation in the south
6. How widespread is mechanized cotton picking in the developing world? Why is this the case?
It was difficult for smaller farms to justify buying such expensive equipment but larger (texas) farms could benefit and get
ahead. Foreign farms in Africa and SE asia found it difficult to make the leap to mechanical farming. It created new
bottlenecks.
Travels_of_a_T-Shirt_questions - revised.doc 3
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