> > Take, for instance, assembly-line work in Intel. As far as I can tell,
> > levels of productivity in production of CPU's, e.g., are not any lower
> > in Penang, Malaysia, than in the US. But even if they were 50% lower,
> > wages are definitely more than 50% below that of the US. And Penang,
> > Malaysia, would be one of the higher wage areas outside the US.
>
> But there's more to it than that: there's the bribes you have to pay,
> there are the transportation costs, the added management and middleman
> costs, the lost-in-translation costs. I'm not saying it's not cheaper to
> outsource, but the win isn't automatic and it's not guaranteed.
>
> Joanna
As Yoshie has correctly surmised, my objection was about the broader context of unequal pay and its implications in terms of revolutionary politics. It's pretty hard to build a case for extraordinary exploitation being based on comparing national average wages, when (e.g.) the cost of living is also so different between the developed and developing countries.
Due to a heavy workload over the next few months, I'm unsubbing. if anyone wants to respond, feel free to do so offlist.
regards,
Grant.