CHINA INC.

Remember when everything was made in Japan? Now everything is made in China. Suffocated for decades by binding communist ideology, the Chinese are now breathing the invigorating air of capitalism. And they seem to like it. Relatively unregulated factories pay 25 cents an hour to employees who save 40 percent of what they earn. It's not just Americans sending jobs there; Mexico is outsourcing to China. The current move from the Chinese countryside to the job-rich cities is the largest migration in history, according Fishman. China now uses 40 percent of the world's concrete and 25 percent of its steel. Alan Sklar has a deep and musical voice. He reads us the bad news with enthusiasm. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 06]