| Haven't read the book, but I have heard lots of debates on this China trade (mostly negative comments), such as this one (quoted from above) "essential reading for anyone concerned about how dangerous pet food and clothing manufactured in China make it into American stores". This is very much one-sided and biased, in my opinion. Being a Chinese who have studied and worked (still live) in the US in the past 10 years, I have seen all the stuff made in China, and I believe I have some authority on this matter. Whether one wants to admit or not, China's cheap (but quality) exports helped the US inflation in control in last decade. From the stuffs in Wal-Mart or iPod, it helped the squezzed middle class have some money left over for the starbucks coffee or their kids Nintendo DS. It also helped Steve Jobs and his troop cash in handsomely from the record corporate profit. Meanwhile, as I understand the workers in China did not get paid much, and their working conditions are not that great either (but they still do better than not working). Much of the profit goes to factory owners. Use my own example yesterday, I bought this decent floor lamp for $16 at Target: http://www.target.com/5-Head-Floor-Lamp-Blue/dp/B000WUXQAY/sr=1-12/qid=1207062432/ref=sr_1_12/602-6924716-8167013?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Afloor%20lamp&page=1 Yeah, it is not perfect, and requires assembly, but hey it's just $16, or 102 Yuan. I doubt I can buy that quality lamp at 102 Yuan in Shanghai though. So, what's my point? While there are some incidents in the Chinese exports to the west, we should ackowledge trade in large extent benifit both sides. Probablly more benifit to the western receipients (consumers, corporations CEOs and shareholders) than the migrant workers in China. |
My Friend Alexandra's Book: The China Price