There is much more to it that labor costs, believe me.
First, for everyone in Asia except China, vast sums of US aid money
were used to set those companies up -- free financing goes a long way
to make production cheaper. Second, all (including China, who is
currently the worst) all those countries manipulate their currency to
make it artificially low, distorting the price point. Third, the
quality is usually very poor, and the cheaper it is the worse the
quality (there are no exceptions that I know of -- good quality Asian
or Indian, etc stuff is MORE expensive that US made, not cheaper!).
Fourth, there are significant tax implications (as in no income tax on
revenue received outside the US).
Labor is a small part of the equation.
This is all planned economic policy, not accidental -- read the bull
that US economists write.
Basic stupidity and short-sighted moneygrubbing are the major parts, as
usual. We are discussing human behavior....
Peter
