The Price Of A Bargain

What does one gain in purchasing goods at a steal of a deal of a price? More importantly, what is the process whereby this trinket or bauble or television or computer arrives into your hands? At what cost? Those who are even just a wee bit curious about the manufacture of goods, logistics of shipping and transit to the shop, your purchase driven home in your automobile and, ultimately, most probably tossed into the rubbish, will benefit from a thorough read of this bright book.

Gordon Laird, who has published in newspapers, appeared on television, spoken on radio and written for magazines, takes us on astounding and astonishing journeys that bring us through ten years of research and interviews. We travel into a Las Vegas convention, Chinese factory cities, Los Angeles shipping yards, up to Alberta’s oil sands and many other places in between. We see what havoc our huge footprint has on the Earth and how ridiculously perilously dangerous it would be if China and India did decide to consume resources at the rate of the average North American.

It is an intriguing book, a bit hefty for bedtime reading, though again, one of those sorts that once you start, you may be tempted to keep on keeping on. In so doing, all the way through to the end of the adventure where Laird weighs in on what the real price of goods are, minus the sundry subsidies that make things so very cheap for us. For those of us hankering for more, there are plenty of sources cited for further reading on the very many subjects touched upon in this jolly good read.