I'll Bet You Didn't Know

today is the start of Chinese New Year because, after all, the country practically owns this country thanks to policies which have encouraged the "outsourcing" of entire American industries.

It's going to get worse before it gets better, and of course Congress won't do one damned thing about it.

Meanwhile, that trade surplus drains much-needed demand away from a depressed world economy. My back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that for the next couple of years Chinese mercantilism may end up reducing U.S. employment by around 1.4 million jobs.

The Chinese refuse to acknowledge the problem. Recently Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, dismissed foreign complaints: “On one hand, you are asking for the yuan to appreciate, and on the other hand, you are taking all kinds of protectionist measures.” Indeed: other countries are taking (modest) protectionist measures precisely because China refuses to let its currency rise. And more such measures are entirely appropriate.

Sichuan Earthquake.

Almost 12,000 people have been reported dead and tens of thousands more are still buried under rubble as a result of yesterday's massive earthquake in China.

Now the death toll has exceed 12,000.

In the WSWS's eyes, foreign countries which have profited immensely from the exploitation of Chinese labor can rest easy knowing the earthquake happened in a less-populated, less-industrialized area of China.

According to their article, China still has a long way to go to make improvements in combating the worst in earthquakes:

The lack of government control over many economic sectors has significantly weakened its ability to coordinate disaster relief. Furthermore, while infrastructure for foreign investors is world class, transport, communications and other services in more backward provinces such as Sichuan is poor.

Sichuan is located at the fringes of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau—a zone particularly prone to earthquakes. It is already clear from the extensive damage, particularly in rural areas, that most buildings were not constructed to withstand tremors. A design code to take earthquakes into account was only instituted after the Tangshan disaster in 1976, and many buildings in Sichuan simply did not meet even its minimal requirements. Building codes are openly flouted by developers determined to maximise profits.

If this is the case, we can expect tens of thousands more deaths.

How does this affect the economy there?

Toyota Motor Corp and other Japanese companies have suspended operations in Sichuan. A Toyota joint venture manufacturing small buses and sports utility vehicles in Chengdu has been shut down too. The venture, Sichuan Faw Toyota Motor, produces 13,000 vehicles a year and has 1,600 employees.

Trading in 66 listed companies based in southwestern China was suspended from Tuesday. In a quick assessment, overseas economists were split on the impact of the natural disaster on China's macro economy.

Merrill Lynch analysts T J Bond and Ting Lu said in a written statement, "We think the earthquake today should have much smaller impact on China's macro economy than the snowstorm in January-February, especially regarding CPI [consumer price index] inflation, industrial production and exports. We thus conclude that the earthquake is unlikely to have significant impact on current macro policies."

Thank God for that. What's a few hundred thousand deaths anyway if the economy isn't hurt badly?

Why

should anybody be surprised there are sweatshop conditions in China?

After all, this is what the multinational corporations are looking for when they outsource.

Corporations Are Upset

Chinese workers have realized they are being exploited by them and may actually do something to correct that condition.

Then these son-of-bitches CEOs might actually have to move their operations elsewhere.

But what happens when Indians, Africans, and everybody else on the planet get fucking pissed off and want a bigger share of the economic pie?

Did they think the gravy train of exploiting workers overseas and killing off jobs in the United States was going to last?

Supporters of the law say the U.S. companies are not taking full responsibility for how their business practices allegedly contribute to worker exploitation.

Liu Cheng, a Shanghai legal scholar who advised the government on the draft proposal, says the pressure U.S. companies exert on their Chinese suppliers to cut costs leads to labor abuse. "After so many years of the multinationals dominating, things are getting worse," says Cheng.

Chinese workers have staged tens of thousands of strikes and protests over the past few years, expressing discontent over poor working conditions and low and unpaid wages. Cheng says that the new law is a modest step toward addressing rising worker unrest and ensuring social stability. "It's reasonable and rational for companies to want to make money, but there has to be balance," says Cheng.

I hope the workers tell corporate America where to shove it.