Global Economic Issues

Since “Sunday’s Steelers vs. Packers game is expected to break the record of the most viewers in U.S. television history,” I wonder if this will translate to more shirts being printed. (Personally, I do not prefer one team over another . . .)

On the other hand, I find it slightly unusual for two things to happen: the pre-printing of the shirts (before the game is over) and the thought of importing shirts from a Third World country only to be exported to another Third World country (potentially the same country). [I guess why Eastern Washington University did not pre-print their shirts is twofold–the thought of losing 19-13 and there existing an “EWU: National Champs!” shirt in Washington is unfathomable to EWU supporters and EWU is given guidelines by the NCAA (I presume) as to what can and cannot be printed (as well as when it can be printed). [Also, maybe EWU cannot afford to print and ship “losing shirts” to Pittsburgh to be shipped overseas to then just reprint new “winning shirts” and raise prices for the new shirts.]

I’m so happy that this is happening! I’ve always wondered what happens to the pre-printed clothes like this, and I think it’s great that they are being donated to countries that could use the extra clothing. It really does seem like a waste that all of this championship apparel is pre-printed, but at the same time I understand that the demand for it is going to be very high immediately after the game. And even though it does seem wasteful, at least these countries are able to benefit from it!

I am very happy that this is going on as well. I always wondered what happened to the shirts that were printed previously and I believe that it is a good use of the shirts that can no longer be sold here. Also, all of the other organizations that give to World Vision give me hope. Many sources paint these large sports organizations as greedy while their players protest for more money although they are already making millions of dollars. This philanthropic act is something that I really respect about the NFL and all the other sprots organizations mentioned in the article.

One of the things that stuck with me from the malaria article was that the excess pills that the company produced were destroyed after they were not purchased. It is really nice to read about a situation where people do the right thing even if it takes more time and effort than just throwing something away.

It is great that the NFL is able to connect with the organization and get the apparel to places that need them. I think that this is a good example of ways that we can help other people in a pretty simple way. Instead of throwing away excesses like this, we can share them with people that need them. I used to work in a kitchen that would throw away all of the leftover food at the end of the night, and it always bothered me that it couldn’t go to people that needed it. If we can devise ways to get our “waste” to the people in need, we could perhaps start making a very small impact in the large gap between the rich and the poor.

I was talking to another business student about this yesterday, and he brought up the point that in some cases, flooding the market with free clothing is hurting the textile manufacturing industries. It would be like other countries donating free cars to America: domestic car companies would go out of business and jobs would be lost. Obviously free shirts will not be a problem in some of these locations where they are direly needed and people are unable to buy clothes from local markets, but it shows that everything in an economy is very interrelated and even good intentions can have unpredictable consequences.

Excellent point about the unintended consequences that can be associated with these types of programs, David!

For me, this is the first time I’ve heard of an organization giving impoverished countries professional athletes gear. It makes me happy to see multi-million corporations giving of themselves especially since there is so much hype about the possible “lock out” due to salary cuts and what not. Obviously these players and corporate owners have enough money as it is and to be able to look at the big picture and help those in need makes me think there are some good people within these large corporations.

That being said, I’m glad the Packers won. Let’s hope the Steeler’s never make it to a Super Bowl again!

I have heard about this process taking place surrounding major sporting events but I was not aware that World Vision was involved. World Vision is based in Federal Way, WA and is an extremely effective NGO that is a, “a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.” As we move through Jeffery Sach’s book, “The End of Poverty,” it is important to realize how many active participants there must be in the global effort to eliminate suffering and poverty. Sachs focuses much of his attention on sovereign fiscal issues, but there is also an important role for non-state actors to play in administering aid throughout the world. I commend World Vision for working to share the excess from the developed world with those who are less fortunate.

I’ve always wondered what the NFL did with the losing team’s apparel and now I know that they are putting it to great use. This is a very clever program and one that always has a consistent, steady replenishment every year. I wonder if in the article when it commented that World Vision partners with the NFC and AFC in similar ways meant that the gear for “NFC champions” and “AFC champions” are sent to impoverished countries. I believe that for these games apparel is pre-made as well.

As broken hearted that I am that my Steelers lost at least it is good to see that someone is benefiting from my pain lol. I have always known about these programs where the non winning teams stuff goes to impoverished countries. What a great idea! Good to see that large and profitable organizations give something back. So as I much would have prefeered the apparel being from the Packers at least these people get something with some value to it… The Romanians are probably relieved that they finally get to stop wearing their 2005 Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl Championship shirts.

I think more companies and organizations need to find ways to donate like this. It probably cost the NFL next to nothing to do this, but it probably has a big impact on these impoverished nations. I’m sure many clothing companies throw away missprinted/missmanufactured clothes all the time without considering the possibilities of donation.