I agree that Farah often (if not usually) talks out his a$$. However, I also believe that the human rights conditions in China are deplorable and I would love to see the Chicoms collapse as the Soviets did.
I do not believe there should be ANY minimum wage laws in the United States. I think wages should be set by the free market and that this would benefit both employers and employees. I think that doing this would also help end a lot of our dependence on overseas goods.
I agree with everything you said in this post...:)
But since you have never been to these factories, how can you speak as to their conditions? They are not great by US standards, but compared to what is standard in that region (even outside China), it is extremely good. Compared to other jobs they have access to, these are coveted.
Even without minimum wage laws, I doubt we could compete anymore on mass production. It comes down to basic labor supply and demand. The only way it would work would be a huge pool of cheap labor. The only source of that here is Mexico. Don't think that's a viable option on several fronts - not the least of which is skill.