How the World Ran Out of Everything

Inside the Global Supply Chain

De: Peter S. Goodman

Narrado por: Michael David Axtell

Duración: 12 h y 18 m

Resumen del Editor

By the New York Times’s Global Economics Correspondent, an extraordinary journey to understand the worldwide supply chain—exposing both the fascinating pathways of manufacturing and transportation that bring products to your doorstep, and the ruthless business logic that has left local communities at the mercy of a complex and fragile network for their basic necessities.

"A tale that will change how you look at the world."—Mark Leibovich

One of Foreign Policy's "Most Anticipated Books of 2024"

How does the wealthiest country on earth run out of protective gear in the middle of a public health catastrophe? How do its parents find themselves unable to locate crucially needed infant formula? How do its largest companies spend billions of dollars making cars that no one can drive for a lack of chips?

The last few years have radically highlighted the intricacy and fragility of the global supply chain. Enormous ships were stuck at sea, warehouses overflowed, and delivery trucks stalled. The result was a scarcity of everything from breakfast cereal to medical devices, from frivolous goods to lifesaving necessities. And while the scale of the pandemic shock was unprecedented, it underscored the troubling reality that the system was fundamentally at risk of descending into chaos all along. And it still is. Sabotaged by financial interests, loss of transparency in markets, and worsening working conditions for the people tasked with keeping the gears turning, our global supply chain has become perpetually on the brink of collapse.

In How the World Ran Out of Everything, award-winning journalist Peter S. Goodman reveals the fascinating innerworkings of our supply chain and the factors that have led to its constant, dangerous vulnerability. His reporting takes listeners deep into the elaborate system, showcasing the triumphs and struggles of the human players who operate it—from factories in Asia and an almond grower in Northern California, to a group of striking railroad workers in Texas, to a truck driver who Goodman accompanies across hundreds of miles of the Great Plains. Through their stories, Goodman weaves a powerful argument for reforming a supply chain to become truly reliable and resilient, demanding a radical redrawing of the bargain between labor and shareholders, and deeper attention paid to how we get the things we need.

From one of the most respected economic journalists working today, How the World Ran Out of Everything is a fiercely smart, deeply informative look at how our supply chain operates, and why its reform is crucial—not only to avoid dysfunction in our day to day lives, but to protect the fate of our global fortunes.

©2024 Peter S. Goodman (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Great insight into the relationship intertwining global logistics, corporate interests, and political interests

Highly recommend to anyone who wants to better understand the macro of the world around them. This not only explains the how of things that impacts us daily, but also the why.

Listen to this book!

Extremely inciteful, a wonderful expose into the true horrors of corporate greed! Listen and tell a friend

Excellent!

I highly recommend this book to supply chain enthusiasts, academics, and researchers. I learned a ton from this book.

Eye opening !!!!!

Very informative on the true nature of capitalism. GREED, POWER, MONEY are behind it all

Will read again

Great insights. Will read again. Love the trucker stories. Covers both monopolies and supply chain.

Well Researched .

How the World Ran Out of Everything by Peter S. Goodman is an insightful exploration of the global supply chain’s fragility, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Goodman provides a compelling analysis of systemic vulnerabilities, though some critics argue it overlooks specific pandemic factors. Essential reading for understanding modern global trade complexities.

Illuminating

Expert reporting and clear story telling of a hidden but vitally important part of our economy.

An eye opening expose comparable to The Jungle

This is such an important review of the global supply chain and the reality of current economic theory. Although Henry Ford had some horrific views, his understanding that company employees were also consumers should be adopted anew by today’s global conglomerates.

Must Read!

This book is amazing! If only everyone had this experience before they made assumptions about how we ran out of everything.

A must read for manufacturers!

This is one of the most relevant business books I've ever read. As an American manufacturer who produces in China, I spend a lot of time wondering what the F is going on and how I'll survive it. Through Goodman's story of an entrepreneur's manufacturing and supply chain woes, I better understand my own. In 2021 when my containers were taking 3x longer than usual and costing 3x more, I couldn't make sense of it. This book showed what was going on behind the scenes, when the "investor class" was profiting from the supply chain disaster.

It's helpful to hear about what other manufacturers do to diversify their supply chains and be less dependent on China. Whether Biden or Trump wins, tariffs threaten my survival. So I'm simultaneously working with factories in four countries to get quotes. Four! And rushing to travel to all of them before November. That is incredibly time consuming, so Goodman's book saved me time by profiling companies that have tweaked or transformed their supply chain in some of the ways I'm considering.

I strongly recommend this book and look forward to following Goodman's reporting, as it helps me make sense of my own (terrifying) situation.