> Our way of life depends on low wage labour (read: exploitation of the poor) in foreign countries In some sense this is true, but manufacturing in China is n

> Our way of life depends on low wage labour (read: exploitation of the poor) in foreign countries In some sense this is true, but manufacturing in China is not just about low wage labour. The lowest minimum wage in China is 12 RMB/hour. In the US the federal minimum wage is 7.25 USD/hour. Now, 12 RMB ≈ 1.75 USD, but considering purchasing power parity (1), 12 RMB * 3.506 ≈ 6 USD. The average factory worker wage in China is considerably higher than the minimum wage. In fact it is higher than in some eastern European countries. Of course the above doesn't tell the whole picture as we haven't looked at for example work and environmental safety. But the lower cost of manufacturing in China can only partly be attributed to lower wages. It also an effect of their industrial network clusters, supply of raw materials, and export subsidies. Adding to that, manufacturing in China is not just about cost, it is also about the immense scale of their manufacturing capabilities. If you need to churn out half a million iPhone X per day, where else can you get that capability? (1) Using 2017 value for China from https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-parities-ppp.htm https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-parities-p...