I think it's symptomatic of another issue, one I've raised before numerous times on different threads, but never elicited a response. It's difficult for a company which is required to comply with certain laws to compete with one which is not subject to similar laws. In the US, employers have to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), wage and hours laws, minimum wage, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), worker's compensation laws for injuries in the workplace, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Medical Leave Act, and scads of other acts. I understand that in Europe some countries also mandate vacation times, which are not mandatory in the US.
Other countries do things differently - instead of putting the social burdens on the employer, the government is responsible, e.g., in China and Canada, health care is provided by the government, not the employer. In China, it's ok to fire a worker whose eyesight is no longer 20-20 - that would be illegal in the US. China, Korea, Viet Nam, Indonesia, etc., don't have ADA, nor minimum wage, nor OSHA, nor EPA, nor ERISA, etc., etc.,
If the US electorate thinks these laws are good things, what - if anything - do we do about the fact that companies which produce goods in countries that don't have these laws can produce goods cheaper?
To speak of the "free market" in this situation is illusory. |
