a.) I found it most interesting how drastically the shipping containers have shifted costs in transportation. "It is better to assume that moving goods is essentially costless than to assume that moving goods is an important component of the production process." Before the container, such a statement was unimaginable. I think this is especially important because it is a huge shift from costly transportation to essentially costless transportation. I am a little confused at to how some theories do not account shipping containers as very important.
b.) Levinson sees the development of the shipping container as a vital component to the expansion of the global economy. He talks about how the development of the shipping container may not have immediately led to changes in the economy because it took some time for economies to get efficient at using the new technology (loading, unloading, computer use etc.). Levinson thinks that the shipping containers led to the ability to trade globally without the costs of long distance transportation.
c.) The short impact of the shipping container may have had little impact on the national economy and may have had a detrimental impact on employment as less workers were needed for transportation. In the long run, national income should increase as production and trade increases. Employment should also increase from the increased production.
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