In 1966, in the decade after the container first came
into international use, the volume of international
trade in manufactured goods grew more than twice
as fast as the volume of global manufacturing production,
and two-and-a-half times as fast as global
economic output. Something was accelerating the
growth of trade even though economic expansion
was weak. Something was driving a vast increase in
international commerce in manufactured goods
even though oil shocks were making the world
economy sluggish.