Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
That's why it's quite upsetting that so many multinational corporations set some joint-ventures with high-rank Chinese communist party officials to outsource manufacturing, instead of setting plants in more countries not only across Asia but also Latin America or even Africa. GM for instance, went away from Thailand, India and South Africa. That joint-venture model implemented in China only favored the predatory industrial policy of the Chinese dictatorship, not only through its dumping which prevented other countries from having a stronger industrial output (including strategic industries) but also impacted other countries which used to have a much greater industrial development.
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I've wondered why businesses don't seek the absolute lowest wages for their manufacturing base. It seems stability is also an important factor. If lowest wages were the only factor, all manufacturing would be in various African cities. Only thing I can think of for why China is the defacto manufacturing location is a combination of lowish labor costs and a high degree of orderliness.
My guess is we will rely more heavily on Mexican labor in the coming years, for the few remaining years manual labor is still performed by humans.
Technology is going to reshore manufacturing. Wealth will increasingly come down to who can produce the cheapest, most plentiful and reliable energy, and to a lesser extent mineral resources.
AI has potential to capture enormous wealth, but then again, it's iterable so competing AI will place downward pressure on profitability.