Pitiful wages, anti-union policies and corporate welfare to make America competitive with China

According to a Boston Consulting Group report, the US is in for a manufacturing renaissance, thanks to plummeting wages and toothless labor protection policies in the American south. These factors, combined with the rising value of the Chinese RMB, rising wages in China and government handouts for corporations who locate in the USA make it more profitable to pay sub-starvation wages in America than in China.

But will American workers be willing to sign pledges promising not to commit suicide?

With Chinese wages rising at about 17 percent per year and the value of the yuan continuing to increase, the gap between U.S. and Chinese wages is narrowing rapidly. Meanwhile, flexible work rules and a host of government incentives are making many states–including Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama–increasingly competitive as low-cost bases for supplying the U.S. market…

“Workers and unions are more willing to accept concessions to bring jobs back to the U.S.,” noted Michael Zinser, a BCG partner who leads the firm’s manufacturing work in the Americas. “Support from state and local governments can tip the balance.”

Reinvestment During the Next Five Years Could Usher in a ‘Manufacturing Renaissance’ as the U.S. Becomes a Low-Cost Country Among Developed Nations, According to Analysis by The Boston Consulting Group

(via Futurismic)

(Image: A factory producing telephone cable in Shanghai. This is the “Research Department”. The banner above urges support for the Dominican people in their struggle against U.S. imperialism., a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from thomasfisherlibrary’s photostream)