Outsourcing

The article talked about outsourcing and the way it's affecting the economy. It started with the outsourcing in the clothing industry and how consumer preferences affect the buyer-driver chains. In the eighties cheaper blouses were made in low-wage East Asia, and Italy was the main exporter of wool. Next it talks about the agricultural industry and how it's better described as a "trader-driven" chains rather than a buyer-driven chain. Many of the traders in the agricultural industry were international traders. The auto industry has become more and more globalized over the past two decades. Before the seventies, the "Big Three" built most of their products with very little imported parts. But they were also having to build their products for two different countries with two separate plans. After that they combined the main plants to consolidate the company.
It relates to Roger and Me with the auto industry and how the plant in Flint closed because of outsourcing.

Rothstein, Jeffrey S.. "Economic Development Policymaking Down the Global Commodity Chain: Attracting an Auto Industry to Silao, Mexico." Social Forces 84(2005): 49-69.