Defining Capitalism

Brad DeLong delong at econ.Berkeley.EDU
Tue Jul 3 20:59:29 PDT 2001



>I would think other factors would affect the relative price of the
>software and the garment: the military that surround the work compound
>threatening anybody who would dare to ask for better conditions;

Ah. Now I see it: The MFA does Indonesia and Bangladesh a *favor* by keeping them from having too many people working in the textile sector. Better to have small firms than big firms because small firms keep the manufacturing jobs *here* in the first world, and so minimize international trade.

The argument that "manufacturing jobs are good for the rich us but not for the poor them because their political systems cannot effectively regulate industry" has always seemed to me to have a small grain of truth at its core, but to be ninety percent false, and to be shoddy and sad.

Brad DeLong



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