Friday, December 17, 2010

(f)unemployment

In lieu of our class's recent undertakings/studies in the department of unemployment/labor, I present to you a post on the relations between the structure of the Chinese workforce versus that of the American workforce. As videos, lectures, and a book has taught, having a low unemployment level after such a sharp spike/dip in our current recession is a benefit. In the long term, a slow rise equivocates a slow fall. In China, the rise and fall of the cycle is accelerated by the larger population - and at the same time, inhibited by its presence.

The days of adhering to every aspect of their Communist party's demands have shifted, as many foreign trade corporations have found loopholes to expand their business and deal in more products/distribute to more outlets than ever before. The heightened competition in this area of imports has increased the demand for the amount of workers - and recent strikes have pushed Beijing's factory managers to increase the wages of their workers by 30%. All this, plus the fact that the world's most populous country will face a shortage in labor in the upcoming years.

The balance, however, has been found (really, speculated) by China through the elimination of price controls and the establishment of wholesale markets. Their hope, as well as that of Dr. Mary Gallagher of the University of Michigan, is that the various levels of the workforce in China can find a balance and adjust their expectations of the current economic outlook. The fact that a migrant worker and a graduate student earn the same starting wage is a bit unsettling, but in time I believe that they'll find a way to fix these issues.

How will these problems be resolved? (to be continued ...)

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