Originally Posted by soyboy
slavelabor or not they're still underpaid and it's exploitative
labor markets establish wages according to what people are willing to work for. "underpaid and exploitative" is a pretty loaded term, guy... underpaid according to whom? i think i'm underpaid. my coworkers all think they're underpaid. nevertheless we stay in our jobs because of a simple economic calculation. as for "exploitative", put down the protest pamphlets and pick up the Krugman, Friedman, or Sacks (all left-of-center, by the way).
are the labor laws modern and centered around workers' welfare? hell no. but it would be naive to expect an economy like China's to skip the 100-odd years of development out of a labor-intensive economy to a high-tech semi-welfare oriented economy like those of the western world.
if you're so concerned about the plight of the unskilled worker in the East, then buy more of their bikes, develop their economy, and tell the American worker to find something that he actually has a comparative advantage in.