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Exactly this, long term the cost of living and GDP across the world is going to normalize. As it is now, someone living in a western country could take a month'

Exactly this, long term the cost of living and GDP across the world is going to normalize. As it is now, someone living in a western country could take a month's salary and live like a king in many less developed countries, that is rapidly changing.

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
Yet the system can be rigged. China's currency is artificially being kept cheap so that manufacturing stays there. Mexico and many Asian countries have terrible labor or environmental protection laws. It seems like maintaining a free market in such a market would lead to a race to the bottom with regards to wages and quality of life. Why should we allow that to happen just to maximize profits?
- AdrianB1 9y ago
  No. Just look inside European Union, where the legislation is about the same and differences in wages are 5x. What can you blame here?
  - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
    I don't think trade with advanced countries is the problem. You don't hear many people complain about trade with Canada or the UK because they have good environmental protection and labor laws. Globalization is a net positive for the poor there because it optimizes capital flows without deleveraging the worker too much. The issue really is just with countries that don't provide a quality of life that the US offers, like Mexico.
    - AdrianB1 9y ago
      Still jobs from France move to Bulgaria. In the light of the article, that is exactly the same problem.
  - mistermann 9y ago
    You guys are the ones telling us it has to normalize, it's been quite some time now and there's still a massive gap, isn't this an impossible outcome?
- eberkund 9y ago
  I don't think it is a race to the bottom. China is doing that because they are still developing so it makes sense to push their currency down to boost manufacturing. But at some point Chinese workers will be able to demand similar wages and quality of life to western countries. This is when things will get interesting in my opinion. Maybe at this point China will be the ones exporting manufacturing to poorer less industrialized countries.

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago

Yet the system can be rigged. China's currency is artificially being kept cheap so that manufacturing stays there. Mexico and many Asian countries have terrible labor or environmental protection laws. It seems like maintaining a free market in such a market would lead to a race to the bottom with regards to wages and quality of life. Why should we allow that to happen just to maximize profits?

AdrianB1 9y ago
No. Just look inside European Union, where the legislation is about the same and differences in wages are 5x. What can you blame here?
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  I don't think trade with advanced countries is the problem. You don't hear many people complain about trade with Canada or the UK because they have good environmental protection and labor laws. Globalization is a net positive for the poor there because it optimizes capital flows without deleveraging the worker too much. The issue really is just with countries that don't provide a quality of life that the US offers, like Mexico.
  - AdrianB1 9y ago
    Still jobs from France move to Bulgaria. In the light of the article, that is exactly the same problem.
- mistermann 9y ago
  You guys are the ones telling us it has to normalize, it's been quite some time now and there's still a massive gap, isn't this an impossible outcome?
eberkund 9y ago
I don't think it is a race to the bottom. China is doing that because they are still developing so it makes sense to push their currency down to boost manufacturing. But at some point Chinese workers will be able to demand similar wages and quality of life to western countries. This is when things will get interesting in my opinion. Maybe at this point China will be the ones exporting manufacturing to poorer less industrialized countries.