Globalization is helping the poor in China. Wages are rising!

Today’s New York Times’ Editorial is about the “World’s Factory” - China. I have to say that the Times does a very good job in defending free trade.

Wages are rising in China. It is not the result of union activism, nor is it the result of government intervention. It is simply the invisible hand that is working. As the economy grows, demand for skilled workers rises, and employers have to pay more.

“...the result looks like a union leader's dream come true: wages are going up, and workers are demanding — and getting — better working conditions and benefits. Minimum wages, which averaged $58 to $74 a month, excluding benefits, in 2004, have climbed about 25 percent over the last three years in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai. Wages at larger factories operated by multinationals, which are typically $100 to $200 a month, are also rising.”

Many Western observers complain that multinationals are “exploiting” Chinese workers. But as the Times rightly points out, what the anti-globalization activists are doing is simply pushing female workers to prostitutions.

“But the alternative is far worse. In the developing world, there is too often little work to be found. In Cambodia, young men spend their days leaning against their rickety moped taxis, hoping for passengers. In Ghana, young girls run up to cars at Accra's few stoplights, selling oranges for nearly nothing. For all the toiling and monotony, factory jobs in these countries can mean survival for a family of six, supported by the monthly paycheck from one sister who sews shirts for the Gap.”

The Times concludes that trading with China is a win-win situation, for Chinese, for Americans, and for the developing world. Hard-working people, regardless of races,  deserve benefiting from competition. A certain segment of our population always tries to impose their disproportionate influences on us through rent-seeking activities, because they are going to lose out from globalization.

“All this speaks to how woefully misguided it is for members of Congress to respond to these pressures by trying to stop the flow of goods from China. The better off China is, the better off the rest of the world is — poor countries because they will get a shot at the jobs that leave China; rich countries because many more people over in China may finally be able to afford the expensive goods that are made in America.”

Comments

[Muruks]

I think nothing can be close to truth. Globalization helps every one. It helps the poor country which has the managerial expertise and other institutional frameworks in place. It will definetly not help Somalia or Nigeria becuase these countries lack managerial expertise and their insitutional frameworks are weak if it exists at all.