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> highly efficient manufacturing Is "highly efficient manufacturing" a euphemism for low paid labor and slave labor? As far as I know pretty much any product

by vasco 2y ago

> highly efficient manufacturing Is "highly efficient manufacturing" a euphemism for low paid labor and slave labor? As far as I know pretty much any product that moved production to China did it because of low labor costs. It's also been reported that companies have also exited China into other low paid labor countries in the region. Meanwhile the only factories that return to the US are exactly the ones that invested in automation and efficient manufacturing, as it's the only way to beat the low costs. They've also managed to pump out really cheap solar panels and EVs, but it's not clear to me how much of that is upgraded automation vs government subsidies.

jpgvm 2y ago
Almost all of it is better automation, shorter supply lines and abundance of highly skilled labor. Manufacturing electronics in China hasn't been about labor costs for a decade. It's still about costs overall but instead of people it's access to the right machines, close enough to where everything else is being sourced and final assembly is done etc.
hilux 2y ago
What China has done to lift the living standards of over one billion people is unprecedented. (S Korea's progress was even greater, but on a much smaller scale.) Everyone can see this. Only (some) white Americans don't want to acknowledge it, or need to explain it away.
CorrectHorseBat 2y ago
>Is "highly efficient manufacturing" a euphemism for low paid labor and slave labor? No, it might have once but Chinese labor isn't that cheap anymore. It means a well educated population, stable government, good infrastructure and other manufacturers in proximity. >They've also managed to pump out really cheap solar panels and EVs, but it's not clear to me how much of that is upgraded automation vs government subsidies. The price of solar panels has followed Wright’s Law for about 5 decades, there's nothing out of the ordinary about the last decade. If all the reduction in price was subsidies the Chinese government would be subsidizing about 90% of the price of every panel. Same thing for batteries.

by vasco 2y ago

jpgvm 2y ago

Almost all of it is better automation, shorter supply lines and abundance of highly skilled labor. Manufacturing electronics in China hasn't been about labor costs for a decade. It's still about costs overall but instead of people it's access to the right machines, close enough to where everything else is being sourced and final assembly is done etc.

hilux 2y ago

What China has done to lift the living standards of over one billion people is unprecedented. (S Korea's progress was even greater, but on a much smaller scale.) Everyone can see this. Only (some) white Americans don't want to acknowledge it, or need to explain it away.

CorrectHorseBat 2y ago

>Is "highly efficient manufacturing" a euphemism for low paid labor and slave labor? No, it might have once but Chinese labor isn't that cheap anymore. It means a well educated population, stable government, good infrastructure and other manufacturers in proximity. >They've also managed to pump out really cheap solar panels and EVs, but it's not clear to me how much of that is upgraded automation vs government subsidies. The price of solar panels has followed Wright’s Law for about 5 decades, there's nothing out of the ordinary about the last decade. If all the reduction in price was subsidies the Chinese government would be subsidizing about 90% of the price of every panel. Same thing for batteries.