Originally Posted by raytri

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...670255,00.html

Permit me a small bit of "I told you so."

This is being framed as a bad thing: China's cost of living is rising rapidly, which means it's more costly to produce stuff there. So things here are going to get more expensive here, because so much of the production supporting our domestic consumption has been outsourced to China.

But this is *exactly* what I've been saying will happen for years. And it's a good thing.

Amid all the hand-wringing about "exporting jobs" -- with the concurrent suggestion that we should use high tariffs or something to stop it and keep those jobs here at home -- I pointed out that, absent trade barriers, the only way to avoid having to compete with low-priced labor is to do one of two things: outcompete them with productivity and quality, or raise their standard of living so they're no longer so low-priced.

This is the latter happening. So while it will make things more expensive, it also makes it less attractive to export jobs to China. Which is exactly what would happen if we went the protectionist route -- except this way doesn't involve government intervention.

Prices have been artificially low for the last 10 years -- with the price paid in exported jobs. Now the prices are coming back into balance, and the cost in jobs should lessen.