Costs of ocean shipping have come down, due to containerization, bulk shipping, and other efficiencies. 3 Policy-induced barriers, such as tariffs and other means of restraining international trade, also have declined, with progress especially marked in developing Asia and in Eastern Europe after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
But first and foremost, Giacomo was a friend I had the good fortune to work with on several occasions. Our conversations were an opportunity to look more closely at problems and analyse them rigorously, but also a way to defuse situations, tongue-in-cheek.