In jholt9’s post,  the question was raised “for the case of China, if the government can make “blacklists” (as described in the podcast), then shouldn’t that same government protect its workers from foreign manipulation? Should China exclude (either “exile” or heavily tax) companies that expose and harm its workers, as described in the readings and podcast?”

Regarding the first question, in reality, it is China that encourages foreign businesses to come in and take advantage of their huge work force and low wages, by enabling “Special Economic Zones” which give special tax incentives to foreign businesses as well as greater freedom on international trade activities .  In effect, by moving a business overseas, not only can a company save money with lower wages for the workers, but they will also not be as heavily taxed as they would in countries such as the US.  In addition, because these special economic zones fail to have strict labor laws, the company saves money by not having to pay for health insurance, liability, and lots of other things.  How does this benefit China?  It creates many more jobs for the citizens (which in turn provides better income for food for their families), as well as pumps international money into the local economy.  As described in the podcast, Chinese “labor unions” do very little to prevent underage workers from joining the workforce or helping citizens who are being exposed or harmed.   Even if China were to place sanctions on companies who mistreat their workers, they would be doing more damage to themselves than to the international businesses, as those businesses could simply move to Thailand or India to other economic zones and take advantage of the cheap labor there.  In turn, that would be higher unemployment rates for Chinese citizens, leading to greater poverty and a poor economy.

In conclusion, it isn’t just China that needs to change when it comes to their industrial class; as long as special economic zones exist with few or no (enforced) labor laws, businesses will continue to take advantage of the workers.  Although the businesses themselves should be held accountable for mistreatment, in the end, they are just doing what they can do get ahead and offer its consumers with the best possible product for the lowest price (and greatest revenue).