Marc Levinson

The Box

1. IDEA 1

   A simple box changed the world

   Levinson argues that the shipping container, a simple metal box, transformed the world economy. By making it cheap to move goods, it helped create global trade as we know it today.

2. IDEA 2

   Old shipping was slow and costly

   Before containers, goods were loaded piece by piece by large teams of dockworkers. Levinson describes how this was slow, expensive and prone to theft and damage. Ships spent days in port.

3. IDEA 3

   A trucker had a big idea

   Levinson tells the story of Malcom McLean, a trucking businessman who imagined loading entire truck trailers onto ships. In 1956 his ship, the Ideal X, carried containers on its first voyage.

All 8 ideas from The Box →