Author Information

Marc Levinson is an economist in Washington, DC. He was previously a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, an economist at a leading investment bank, and the finance and economics editor at The Economist.

Book Description

In April 1956, a converted oil tanker transported fifty-eight containers from Newark to Houston. From this modest beginning, container shipping evolved into a massive industry that enabled the boom of global trade. "The Box" tells the dramatic story of the container's emergence, the decade of struggle before it was widely adopted, and the far-reaching economic consequences of the drastic decline in transportation costs that containerization brought about. Economist Marc Levinson uses previously overlooked sources to illustrate how the container transformed economic geography and devastated traditional ports.