How the World Ran Out of Everything by Goodman

Do you remember the hunt for baby formula in 2022? I know that our family, spread over several states, were actively searching every time any of us went to a pharmacy, grocery store or even online outlet so as to provide our newest family member with sustenance. HOW THE WORLD RAN OUT OF EVERYTHING by Peter S. Goodman reflects on the pandemic’s impact by burrowing deep “Inside the Global Supply Chain.” Goodman, the Global Economics Correspondent for The New York Times, uses a case study involving a container filled with children’s toys to trace the breakdown in a system and “consequences of relying on faraway factories and container ships to keep humanity supplied with goods.” The text has three main sections: a review of China-centric globalization; price manipulation and engineered scarcities; and opportunities to reinvent the supply chain. Throughout, Goodman comments repeatedly on labor exploitation and deregulation; he stresses that, “ordinary people were paying the mounting costs” with weak unions, indifferent politicians, and over reliance on “Just in Time,” or lean, manufacturing. Extensive notes and an index comprise at least twenty percent of the book. HOW THE WORLD RAN OUT OF EVERYTHING received a starred review from Kirkus (“This book should be in the hands of policymakers and economists before the next crisis emerges.”) I would encourage readers looking for related perspective to also check out Arriving Today by Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Mims. And, Goodman’s work even made me think of The Travels Of A T-Shirt In The Global Economy by Rivoli, published almost twenty years ago in a far more optimistic time.