What on earth is The Guardian blithering on about?
True, increased demand should eventually translate into higher wages
for Chinese workers, but it is doing so gradually and unevenly.
Since 1998 wages have gone up by no less than 14% a year, while
export prices have fallen. The explanation is that productivity has
grown even faster than wages, expanding by 20% a year in industry,
cutting unit labour costs.
These aren’t entirely contradictory – if industrial wages have been growing at 14% a year, and gdp at 10-12% a year, then is it not the case that some category of the population has seen falling output, whether in work or because they are out of work (retired etc).
Also, accepting the figures as true involves assuming the Chinese government isn’t lying to make itself look good, which doesn’t seem like the wisest assumption to base one’s argument on.
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