[seicslybearee]

Chinese workers have had enough of being the whipping child, churning out widgets for the West.

Looks like Chinese imports are due to get some price shocks. Better run to Wal-Mart before those low-low prices don't seem quite so low anymore.

Bargaining Power Grows for Striking Chinese Workers - NYTimes.com

[Arrectiff]

I knew this was coming and I congratulate the Chinese workers for coming together no matter what the outcome. It was just a matter of time.

[gMUVgw71]

aren't they already in the workers party?

[Arrectiff]

It's as much a workers party as stalin was a marxist.

[gMUVgw71]

Sometimes I should use a "joke" symbol

[allmyflights]

wait, I thought it was a race to the bottom? you mean chinese workers are actually benefitting? this can't be

[Ekrbcbvh]

Wait..Chinese workers want a raise...how dare their liberal asses demand increased wages.

China is engaged in quantitive easing (spending) like the U.S. and Europe but unlike the West it looks like they won't be devaluing their currency, laying people off and imposing harsh austerity measures on their people so that banks and bondholders don't have to take a haircut and can get paid 100 cents on the dollar.

Looks like the Eurozone and the US (west) will be the ones in a race to the bottom in creating a second leg down while China builds up its domestic market with wage increases. Who would have thought that increased salaries within the real economy as opposed to gifting money to speculatory finance and oligarchs could fuel aggregate demand...sounds like junk economics to me.

[GogaMegaPiska]

You see Communism does work.

First they make Buicks and put people in orbit and then they'll go to the moon. I just hope some day they will outsource their calling centers to the US.

[allmyflights]

Wait..Chinese workers want a raise...how dare their liberal asses demand increased wages.

China is engaged in quantitive easing (spending) like the U.S. and Europe but unlike the West it looks like they won't be devaluing their currency, laying people off and imposing harsh austerity measures on their people so that banks and bondholders don't have to take a haircut and can get paid 100 cents on the dollar.

Looks like the Eurozone and the US (west) will be the ones in a race to the bottom in creating a second leg down while China builds up its domestic market with wage increases. Who would have thought that increased salaries within the real economy as opposed to gifting money to speculatory finance and oligarchs could fuel aggregate demand...sounds like junk economics to me.

the "liberals" were the ones that said race to the bottom, it appears as if trade is increasing chinese wages, looks like their junk economics failed again. not to nitpick, but china already implemented austerity measures years ago. little in the way of government healthcare or even free education. rural chinese have a fairly tough time which is why they've been moving to cities en masse unlike anything the world's ever seen. we both agree that the west's reliance on debt to create the illusion of wealth has been a disaster....of course, china's leaders don't worry much about being voted out of office...not even after killing tens of millions of their own citizens in a failed attempt at communism, though it's failure is what led china to become a mixed economy again.the simple fact is the basic laws of economics were never suspended. with an expanding labor supply (more countries entering the market) wages were going ot be depressed. over the long haul, eventually the imbalance between wages in the US and places like china was going to be narrowed with US wages decreasing and chinese wages increasing. I've always said we should ask ourselves why it costs so much to live here. why are $400 eyeglasses here $20 there? is the designer's value really that great?

[seicslybearee]

wait, I thought it was a race to the bottom? you mean chinese workers are actually benefitting? this can't be

They will get f_cked just like Mexican workers got f_cked with the maquiladoras. Mexicans tried to organize and were left with unemployment and stagnant wages when they started striking in the late 80s/early 90s... bout the same time China was ramping up its manufacturing biz.

Textiles have also been draining away from Mexico and fleeing for SE Asia. Even with the delays and costs of putting crap on container ships, it comes out cheaper in the end than putting stuff on trains in Mexico and shipping thru Texas. Mexicans only manufacture consumer goods that are time critical for delivery that can't wait for a 3 week journey across the ocean (like produce).

One of the large pots of cheap labor that's way dirt cheaper than Chinese workers are Africans. Short of the political problems of African countries, it's been waiting its turn to be exploited by the multinationals.