robinseeds

In part three of our impromptu exploration into the world of Chinese manufacturing and disassembly of our everyday electronics, we've got Slate's look into the current economic situation and why the era of super cheap goods from China could be over. Here's why: Chinese inflation.

We don't want to get into heavy economics, but here's what we can break Slate's take down to. Raw material costs are going up, the Chinese renminbi is appreciating, Chinese wages are going up, and importers' (the people who buy goods to sell to us) negotiating position are weakening.

What's even worse is that there's no suitable "next" China to take China's place in manufacturing cheap goods for us. This in turn means that sooner or later, "Made in China" will make the same transition "Made in Japan" did in the 1960s and 1970s, and will be less a sign of cheap, low-cost electronics, and just a sign that someone who looks like me built that DVD player you're using. No guarantees on whether or not they pantsed it, however.