Price of Cheap Junk Rising #
At Slate, Alexandra Harney makes the reasonable claim that the combination of higher commodity prices, a modest appreciation of China’s currency, and a lower willingness among Chinese to be exploited will likely mean that the cheap junk Americans are used to will be getting at least a little dearer.
The problem for American retailers and consumers hooked on $3 T-shirts and $30 DVD players is that there is no other China waiting in the wings to make cheap goods reliably for American shoppers. American importers are now arriving by the planeload in Vietnam, hoping to take advantage of the country’s lower wages. But Vietnam, hard as it tries, has only 85 million people—the size of one Chinese province. And only a fraction of its population is suitable for factory work. Moreover, prices are rising faster in Vietnam than anywhere else in Asia. Add in the rising incidence of strikes and labor disputes, and Vietnam looks increasingly like a short-term alternative.