Finance Book Club - How the World Ran Out of Everything
Date: Wed, May 27, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Venue: Main Library – Meeting Room #4311, Durham
Price: Free
Category: Community
<p><strong>Welcome to Finance Book Club, a book club focused on finance, the world economy, and everything in between. Join to delve into thoughtful discussions about the forces impacting our world today. Bring your thoughts and reflections!</strong></p> <p>"How does the wealthiest country on earth run out of protective gear in the middle of a public health catastrophe? How do its parents find themselves unable to locate crucially needed infant formula? How do its largest companies spend billions of dollars making cars that no one can drive for a lack of chips?</p> <p>The last few years have radically highlighted the intricacy and fragility of the global supply chain. Enormous ships were stuck at sea, warehouses overflowed, and delivery trucks stalled. The result was a scarcity of everything from breakfast cereal to medical devices, from frivolous goods to lifesaving necessities. And while the scale of the pandemic shock was unprecedented, it underscored the troubling reality that this system built on Just in Time principles was fundamentally at risk of descending into chaos all along. And it still is. Sabotaged by financial interests, a loss of transparency in markets, and worsening working conditions for the people tasked with keeping the gears turning, our global supply chain has become perpetually on the brink of collapse.</p> <p>In <i>How the World Ran Out of Everything</i>, award-winning journalist Peter S. Goodman reveals the fascinating innerworkings of our supply chain and the factors that have led to its constant, dangerous vulnerability. His reporting takes readers deep into the elaborate system, showcasing the triumphs and struggles of the human players who operate it—from factories in Asia and an almond grower in Northern California, to a group of striking railroad workers in Texas, to a truck driver who Goodman accompanies across hundreds of miles of the Great Plains. Through their stories, Goodman weaves a powerful argument for reformi
