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CEOs are thinking, "Holy Communist Party, Batman!  Why am I paying Bob $25/hr. for a job that Hu can perform for $25/week?"  It's the same job.  Anybody can make a pillow.

If Bob is 7 times more productive than Hu at making the pillow, then his job should be safe, right?

If Bob's job is not safe then why is Hu not being paid more, in line with his productivity? Because the authorities in China hold down wages? Allow firms to get away with poor working conditions, environmental practices, and so forth, that Bob's employer can't? Because Hu is not free to join a union?

I would rather see Hu's living standards leveraged upward than Bob's forced downward.

We need some sort of minimal international labor standards to make that happen. At least a globally recognized right to organize so that workers can set their own standards.

Maybe also a more growth-oriented international financial system, along the lines of what Keynes originally proposed in 1944, to replace Washington Consensus austerity policies?

That may be too utopian.

by TGeraghty on Mon Nov 28th, 2005 at 03:58:36 PM EST
I think the issue of productivity is one we need to be careful about. This is something many executives have pointed out. For example, if Hu can make seven pillows instead of one - well then we'll pay him seven times as much. There are several converging forces, with this however:

  1. Hu is paid a bare minimum, so he can barely afford to pay for meals, housing, utilities, and other issues. Hu is paid a minimum wage (or sometimes below), but that is not enough for nutrition and support.

  2. Hu works in a labor-intensive industry. You can't automate your way out of every single process, and believe me when I say those processes that could have been automated, have been. This is why productivity is a tough issue. Can we really compare productivity of a guy operating a welding robot with someone who is putting glue on the insoles of shoes?

  3. Even if Hu managed to become productive through some miracle, there is one more problem. Many companies that supply to American companies are actual Tier 1 or 2 suppliers. They get cost targets from American firms, and they must hit those targets. You can guess where this goes I'm sure :)


Mikhail from SF
by Tsarrio (dj_tsar@yahoo.com) on Mon Nov 28th, 2005 at 07:23:30 PM EST
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