overseas manufacturing in developing countries

Interesting China fact:

The richest 70 members of China’s legislature added more to their wealth last year than the combined net worth of all 535 members of the U.S. Congress, the president and his Cabinet, and the nine Supreme Court justices...
The wealthiest member of the U.S. Congress is Representative Darrell Issa, the California Republican who had a maximum wealth of $700.9 million in 2010, according to the center. If he were in China’s NPC, he would be ranked 40th. Per capita income in China is about one-sixth the U.S. level when adjusted for differences in purchasing power.

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/02/china-fact-of-the-day-6.html

Meanwhile, domestic warehouse work in the undeveloping united states:

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor

there's a few details that are a bit fucked up but feeling a lot of "yeah, so?" knee-jerk too.

the great convergence

"amalgamated" is a thin disguise for "amazon"

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/01/19/fewer-more-demanding-workers-for-vietnamese-factories/#axzz1juui4rRO

Unlike China, the vast Communist neighbour to which it is often compared, Vietnam does not have large pools of migrant workers desperate for factory jobs, says Pincus:
“In China, there’s still huge a migration to the coast. There are hundreds of millions of potential workers who have few options. In Vietnam, the migration is smaller, the country is smaller and for many people there are other, better options.”

sad lol

http://www.chinalawblog.com/2012/03/the_end_of_cheap_china_part_v_vietnam_burmamyanmar_and_the_next_big_thing-2.html

http://motherjones.com/environment/2012/03/walmart-china-sustainability-shadow-factories-greenwash?page=1

http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-03-20-now-can-we-start-talking-about-the-real-foxconn/

good post but I'm afraid that 'foxconn apologist' may be a hard label to shake

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/03/iphone-factories-chinese-dreams.html

So this Hanjin Shipping collapse is really something. Container vessels full of TVs doomed to circle port forever as their crews starve. Christmas ruined. Etc.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/billions-in-cargo-remains-stranded-at-sea-1473285117

The fact it is all being documented by an artist in residence is a fabulous twist.

Can't read the WSJ article but it's kind of amazing that the first major container line to go bust in thirty years did so at a time of super-low oil prices.

I'm learning a lot of things I should have already known as a result of this toothsome story.

It's surely going to impact my day job as well (though we don't ship anything with Hanjin)

Here's a great piece about the sham of Nike's "Girl Effect" campaign vs the realities for women working in its Vietnam factories.

Chapo Trap House's interview with the author is also great.

a little bit of third world in small town dayton ohio

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/business/economy/ohio-factory-jobs-china.html