Everything being made in China is a bit of a hyperbole but…
stream of consciousness rant ahead
The rise of neoliberalism involved the deindustrialisation of the imperial core, partly as a way to cheapen costs by relying on a pool of labour with lower minimum wages and worse safety regulations, partly to kneecap labour unions that were forming an effective political bloc against neoliberal social policies, partly to obfuscate the environmental impact of consumerism by shunting all the environmentally hazardous part of the process of producing consumer goods abroad, and partly to complete the transition of imperial core economies entirely into extraction and finance.
At the time China which was liberalising under Dengist reforms and also cosying up to the west, was a perfect target as one of the places to offload industry.
As for why none of this industrial capacity is being moved out of China despite deteriorating relations between them a the imperial core…
Industrialising a country takes a lot of planning and is expensive, (especially in countries like the UK where most of the factories and former supply line infrastructure has been torn up and the land sold off, and what remains is too dilapidated to support a renewed heavy industry), so it’s unappealing to a capitalist hegemon that’s in favour of austerity and low government spending.
Contrary to what they say in public, the bourgeoisie don’t actually care about the amount of government spending, as long as it benefits them, or at least doesn’t adversely affect them. They’re fine with a trillion dollar military budget, for instance. Republican administrations complain the most while caring the least.
Everything being made in China is a bit of a hyperbole but…
stream of consciousness rant ahead
The rise of neoliberalism involved the deindustrialisation of the imperial core, partly as a way to cheapen costs by relying on a pool of labour with lower minimum wages and worse safety regulations, partly to kneecap labour unions that were forming an effective political bloc against neoliberal social policies, partly to obfuscate the environmental impact of consumerism by shunting all the environmentally hazardous part of the process of producing consumer goods abroad, and partly to complete the transition of imperial core economies entirely into extraction and finance.
At the time China which was liberalising under Dengist reforms and also cosying up to the west, was a perfect target as one of the places to offload industry.
As for why none of this industrial capacity is being moved out of China despite deteriorating relations between them a the imperial core…
Industrialising a country takes a lot of planning and is expensive, (especially in countries like the UK where most of the factories and former supply line infrastructure has been torn up and the land sold off, and what remains is too dilapidated to support a renewed heavy industry), so it’s unappealing to a capitalist hegemon that’s in favour of austerity and low government spending.
Contrary to what they say in public, the bourgeoisie don’t actually care about the amount of government spending, as long as it benefits them, or at least doesn’t adversely affect them. They’re fine with a trillion dollar military budget, for instance. Republican administrations complain the most while caring the least.