At 10:44 AM 4/23/01 -0700, you wrote:
>[kinda makes PK's remarks in the NYT look stooooopid--go figure]
>
>
>Published on Monday, April 23, 2001 in the Philadelphia Inquirer
>Cashing In On Sweat of Workers Abroad
>by Lenore Skenazy
>
>How long would it take you to stitch a shoulder seam?
>If you're making a kid-size Nike sweatshirt in the Dominican Republic, it
>better not
>take you more than 30.35 seconds. That's half a minute. For both shoulders.
Actually, it doesn't make PK look "stooooopid." Not only did he say that he
understands that sweatshop conditions are horrible but he's got an out: the
problem is that there aren't _enough_ sweatshops. We should have free flow
of capital all over the world, which would mean that the competition of
sweatshops for labor would bid wages upward. Etc.
The neoliberal perspective -- so articulately and arrogantly put forth by
PK -- can always find a market solution. If something goes wrong, it's
because of the imperfection of markets or the stupidity or cupidity of
governments. (Of course, the semi-governmental IMF and WB don't count as
part of the latter, since they're run by PK's friends, while they promote
the magic of the marketplace.)
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
