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Consider an object you use everyday. Where was it born? The more advanced it is, the more likely its components were sourced from more places all over the world. Your laptop is a sort of third culture kid. Globalisation has linked distant mines, factories, and mkshft ports to each other and to retailers of all sizes, from megastores to mom and pop shops. Much of the world’s merchandise ends up—legally or illegally—in the informal economy, traded by street vendors to end users. Here’s a look at the infrastructure that makes goods mobile.