Super cycle? Or the endgame of cheap?

Back in 2005, we were asked by the esteemed journal, The Banker, to write an op-ed piece and we chose the topic “China and the End of Cheap.” Memory of this came back to us recently with talk rising about how production costs and wages were rising in China, prompting manufacturers to shift production elsewhere (with the dilemma of where else to shift that was so absolutely cheap and yet could get the task done). We had posited in our note that China would follow the path of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan in ceasing to be the “cheap and cheerful” production sites for the world’s knick-knacks.   Read the full article.