| Haven't read the book, but I have heard lots of debates on this China US 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 American middle class have some money left over for the starbucks coffee or their kids Nintendo DS. It also helped Steve Jobs and his troops cash in handsomely from the record corporate profit. Meanwhile, as I understand the workers in China iPod factory 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, I bought this decent floor lamp for $16 at Target recently: 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 goes to the western receipients (consumers, corporations CEOs and shareholders) than the migrant workers in China. After all, most of those workers are just trying to make the ends meet... |
My Friend Alexandra's Book: The China Price