Standards. Who has them? From shipping containers to screws to tech gadgets, how is it that something made in China can have certain attributes identical to another product made by another company half a world away? And why does it matter?

MIT professor and business history JoAnne Yates and Wellesley professor of political science Craig Murphy are the authors of Engineering Rules: Global Standard Setting since 1880. Together with co-host Jacob Feldgoise, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, we talk about how international standards were established at the impact this had on China’s development.

We also discuss

How standardized shipping containers made China’s rise possible
Why Tim Berners Lee is a benevolent overlord
Who has the most influence in setting international standards
Why Europe might be more annoying than China from a US standards perspective

Outro music: Gonna Be An Engineer by Peggy Seeger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IGVxBb5uYk

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Global Standards: What's the Deal?