Tony Norfield spells out how workers in developing countries are short-changed in the value chain of global production. He breaks down the selling price of a common good, a T-shirt, to show how producers in developed countries extract value rather than create it to ensure high profit margins. He concludes that the "oppression of workers in the poorer countries is a direct economic benefit for the mass of people in the richer countries".

Tony Norfield is currently researching for a PhD on 'British imperialism and finance' at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. His interests are centred on using Marxist theory to understand the contemporary imperialist world economy. Prior to this he had worked for nearly 20 years in bank dealing rooms analysing financial markets and had been Global Head of FX Strategy for a major European bank. He writes a blog on the 'Economics of Imperialism'.