Motives
16 January 2009
Editor, The New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
In his otherwise excellent column "Where Sweatshops Are a Dream" (January 15), Nicholas Kristof writes that "Mr. Obama and the Democrats who favor labor standards in trade agreements mean well, for they intend to fight back at oppressive sweatshops abroad."
Unlikely. Mr. Obama and the Democrats (and Republicans, too) are far less interested in helping poor foreigners than they are in winning votes from American workers and factory owners who compete with producers in poor countries. Given that Mr. Kristof is correct that sweatshops provide a way out of poverty for many of the world's poorest people - and given also that even the lowest-income American worker enjoys a standard of living that is princely compared to that of the typical third-world worker - efforts by western politicians to "save" foreign workers from sweatshops should be labeled properly: heartless and greedy attempts by rich western politicians to win votes from rich western citizens at the expense of the world's poorest workers.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
In his otherwise excellent column "Where Sweatshops Are a Dream" (January 15), Nicholas Kristof writes that "Mr. Obama and the Democrats who favor labor standards in trade agreements mean well, for they intend to fight back at oppressive sweatshops abroad."
Unlikely. Mr. Obama and the Democrats (and Republicans, too) are far less interested in helping poor foreigners than they are in winning votes from American workers and factory owners who compete with producers in poor countries. Given that Mr. Kristof is correct that sweatshops provide a way out of poverty for many of the world's poorest people - and given also that even the lowest-income American worker enjoys a standard of living that is princely compared to that of the typical third-world worker - efforts by western politicians to "save" foreign workers from sweatshops should be labeled properly: heartless and greedy attempts by rich western politicians to win votes from rich western citizens at the expense of the world's poorest workers.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Tuesday June 9, 2009 at 4:58pm