Book review on China Inc.
CHINA INC.
“Made in China” is the slogan of the consumer market today. The words emphasize the penetration of Chinese goods and its influence into the world market for a long time now. It has marked the emergence of a new era in production, distribution and trade of commercial goods.
The book “China Inc.” by Ted Fishman talks about how China’s economy has begun to influence the daily lives of workers, consumers, governments and people worldwide. China has grown from being an impoverished country to one of the most dominant industrial power. The country has demonstrated how little value-added commoditized manufacturing has become. He talks about China being a “Pirate Nation” that is, how by counterfeiting any product, irrespective of its quality, the sales never seems to drop. Be it electronic gadgets, CD’s and DVD’s or clothes counterfeiting seems to create jobs and support the entire economy, with the support of the government to a large extent. China is now manufacturing nearly everything -computers, cars, jumbo jets, and pharmaceuticals that the United States and Europe can, at perhaps half the cost. Counterfeiting has also given the growing companies the means to compete with the powerful foreign rivals.
With increase in popularity of Chinese goods, Ted Fishman also voices the concern of how it might prove detrimental to the American market. It is important for American and European countries to shake out of their complacency, take a few basic steps to protect their market goods. This would begin at improving the quality of education at the student level. Also recognizing it is imperative to realize that the globalization growth at a fast pace is not just due to the large workforce willing to work for low wages or creativity but more due to its under-developed domestic market.