The great Canadian economist Reuven Brenner once referred to macroeconomics as “a tautology and a myth, a dangerous one at that, sustaining the illusion that prosperity is necessarily linked with territory, national units, and government spending in general.” Phil Knight, the wildly talented, courageous, and visionary founder of Nike would likely share Brenner's contempt for the macro side of economics. He's lived Brenner's quote, and much more.
In Knight's case, Nike, one of the most important and successful brands in the world, is a creation of Knight's genius. At the same time, it's a good bet Knight would acknowledge that it wouldn't be Nike absent what was, and what is an increasingly integrated global economy. Just about every item ever produced by Knight's wondrous company was manufactured somewhere not the United States, not to mention that Knight's financial savior in Blue Ribbon's (Knight's original shoe company before Nike) less prosperous days was a Japanese trading company, Nissho.
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