Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 The true cost of cheap merchandise August 25, 2008
This book gives an in-depth look at the human cost of cheap merchandise from China, both to Americans and to the Chineese workers that make them.
 The China price and the Walmart price August 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Discussions of free trade sing its virtues, while the reality is something different: the unequal terms of that trade, especially vis a vis China and the United States, where two sets of rules are at work. One result is the 'China price' and the growing imbalance in trade relationships. The larger picture shows the other side to globalizaton: the exploitation of cheap labor, disregard of environmental law, and the generally totalitarian nature of this mutant form of capitalism. This book usefully presents the information absent from most public media discussions of the issues of free trade and is an eye-opener. However, the portrait given is of an unstable situation that can't last forever, whatever new mutation lies down the road. Residents of the United States have been caught up in an ambiguous contradiction, the destruction of domestic industry, and the addictive temptations of Walmartization. As the wheel turns from this unstable new development in global capitalism to the next combination, some awareness of the disinformation created by 'economics' discussions in the United States is needed to correct the long-term destructive character of this confused, yet to some very profitable, constellation of capitalist trickeries.
Excellent Book On The Factory Of the World August 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The China Price does a really good job explaining what goes on in China's factories and, in particular, the whole system that has been built up in China for avoiding monitoring by Westerners. Ms. Harney's thesis is that in many cases, Western companies producing goods in China know the prices they are paying make fair employment and decent environmental standards impossible. I recommend the book to anyone interested in how China has managed to achieve the China price and what the societal and environmental costs of that price has been. I also recommend it to anyone thinking of doing any manufacturing in China, be it on your own or through outsourcing. This book will teach you what really goes on in China manufacturing.
Should be read May 8, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I just finished reading the book here in Hong Kong (of course, it's not available on the mainland.) An aspect of the reporting I really admired was the author's obvious efforts at objectivity and even handedness. I've lived in China off and on for nearly 7 years, and can say without any doubt that many or even most Chinese people are really very nice, with compassion and human feelings. On the issue of corruption, yes it's rampant in China and extends into every activity. But, the Chinese are doing pretty much what any of us would do in similar circumstances, at least I think so. It's easy for us to condemn China sometimes, but on the other hand we didn't have to exist in this reality, and it's almost impossible to place ourselves in their shoes. My biggest gripe against China--the biggest threat it represents to the world and to its own people, and something I don't feel was discussed adequately in the book, is that the government of China has created a truly FASCIST STATE, and their efforts at reinforcment are getting stronger and more desperate. The wonderful, deep Confucian influences manifested through Chinese civilization were leveraged and transformed by Mao and his successors into a twisted form of Orwellian mind control. In China today, people are free to hold any opinion they choose as long as it's the opinion they are told to have. Promotion of nationalistic fervor in China through the education system and media equals or maybe even exceeds previous efforts of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan or Peronist Argentina. It's a scary place.
Good contribution to the China debate May 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's simply impossible to keep track of all the China-related books that come out these days. I mean, they're all over the place. I have a strong interest, both personally and professionally, and I try and read what I can, but quite a few of the recently released books seem to rehash the by now well-known theme of China as a manufacturing powerhouse and the correlating threat China may (or may not) pose internationally. This book, however, takes a slightly different take on things.
In "The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage" (336 pages), former Finantical Times journalist Alexandra Harney delves into the ramifications, primarily for the Chinese, of the ever-growing demand for cheaper products. Harney focuses her research primarily on Shenshen (a city that has grown from half a million to about 12 million in a matter of 2 decades) and the surrounding Guangdong province. Harney demonstrates how a lot of Chinese companies escape the "social audits" many American companies nowadays insist on simply by keeping parallel/fake records on hours worked by/wages paid to Chinese employees. Indeed, the plight of many Chinese workers is deplorable, and not helped by the weak (if that) enforcement of Chinese labor laws by the Chinese government, and the absence of a strong labor union in China. How ironic is that, China being a (so-called) Communist country. Harney spices the book with lots and lots of personal stories of Chinese individuals she interviewed for the book, and that makes it for even more interesting reading.
Harney ends her book with this great observation: "In the end, as much as the responsability seems to lie with Beijing, it also lies with the global consumer. Our appetite for the $30 DVD player and the $3 T-shirt helps keep jewelry factories filled with dust, illegal mines open and 16-year olds working past midnight." How true! And doesn't it strike you that the people who shop at, say, Wal-Mart every day are the very same people who tend to lament the fact that US manufacturing jobs are off-shored to China every day. We all make a choice, every single day.
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