Tarkak9

I dunno - quite Avante Garde for building a building to look like its on its side don't you think?? Clever Trevors, the lot of them.
I wonder what the interior is like.

Sally Redux

Like the level in Tomb Raider II where she's in the sunken ship.

Tarkak9

...or like the Queen Elizabeth in HK Harbour.

robin1234

Now I know why those things are called flats.

scrubbedexpat099

My Steamworks beer has arrived, just in time.

snowbunny

Why not? We're the chief consumers of Chinese-made goods, and we buy them because they ARE cheap. Without us, the Chinese would be hungrier, possibly, but they wouldn't be in such harsh working conditions.

Do you think the average American shopper gives a shit about this?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Bus...15642178?f=rss

It sickens me.

Sally Redux

Good point.

SDDep

I know exactly what you are saying...but there is a solution...I buy american every chance I get, and yes you can if you try and are willing to spend a bit extra, but its worth it, dont you think...

Oh and I buy English made too...have to support the home economy...

The rest of it is economics..and yes we are all responsible for that..

Steerpike

I hate to propagate the lame first post, but you do raise an interesting point. In this country, we have labor standards (minimum wage, minimum age, high safety standards, etc) and aggressive liability practices that scare most domestic manufacturers into producing reasonably safe products. But as a consequence, we have created an environment where other countries (in this case, China) can export products to us at a competitive price. These countries can have any labor laws they want, or none at all ... employing child labor for peanuts if they so desire. And they can produce relative crap ...

I think a bold approach to this would be to tax imports from foreign companies based on their compliance with US standards - but I can't imagine how one would implement such a strategy in a practical manner.

snowbunny

I'd for all for it, but it isn't going to happen so long as China keeps buying up our debt.

chartreuse

There's a song about that:

snowbunny

Excellent!

Steerpike

+1!

So ... mind idly thinking about this ... cost of living in US = x; cost of living in China = y. Thus, equivalent minimum wage in China 'should be' (US minimum wage * y / x ). Assuming 'm' percent of a product's cost is labor, modified cost of Chinese product = (original cost * m ) * ... <ok, it's late and I can't be bothered to carry this on right now, but you get the idea ... > .... Then factor in a 'pollution' penalty since China does not have to comply with costly pollution restrictions, and a 'morality' penalty for employing child labor, and maybe a few other factors. I wonder just how much cheaper your Fisher-Price toy would be then?

snowbunny

I think the answer is that the West could do with fewer Fisher-Price toys and the East with more food and shelter. This is not something that corporations and governments are going to solve - what is in it for them? This is something individuals must do on their own. I mean, hasn't everyone heard of garage sales? where you can buy older toys that last longer than the new shite? I fear that the younger generations are too far gone with electronica and immediate gratification so that simple toys and books are no longer enough.