The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy is a highly-praised and prize winning book that highlights the globalization debates and reveals the key factors to make global business happen. Following a T-shirt's life story from a Texas cotton field to a Chinese factory and back to a U. S. storefront before arriving at the used clothing market in Africa, the book uncovers a wealth of interesting questions about politics, trade, economics, ethics（道德学）, and the impact of history on today's business landscape.
Pietra Rivoli's story began at George Town University in Washington where she worked as a professor of finance and international business. One day, she encountered a student seminar about globalized economy, where one student illustrated his views by giving the simple and accessible examples of T-shirts. She became inspired so one day she bought an ordinary T-shirt randomly for $5.99, deciding to look into how the process worked, which triggered the whole story. She travelled thousands of miles and across three continents to find out who did make these T-shirts that we all wear without giving a second thought about the journey each T-shirt had to go through to make it to the United States. She reached readers by using this simple, everyday T-shirt as a camera through which to explore all aspects of globalization in a historical context.
The story is told in an interesting and efficient way to achieve its purpose of educating on global economy. The language used is simple for anyone interested in reading to understand the complex world of international trade. The book is written professionally from an economist's point of view. Rivoli uses a neutral tone, which is uncommon among economic writers and policymakers. She says, "I have written this book not to defend a position, but first of all, to tell a story; not to convey morals but to discover them, and simply to see where the story leads".
