In recent years the phrase “Made in China” has struck fear into the hearts of western workers and politicians. As China has swelled in economic might – to a point where it will soon outpace the US in size, according to data released this week – its factories have undercut western rivals, causing manufacturing jobs to move.
最近幾年,“中國制造(Made in China)”一詞已將恐懼注入西方工人和政界人士心中。隨著中國經濟實力的日益膨脹——根據不久前發布的數據,要不了多久中國的經濟規模就會超過美國——中國的工廠以低廉的成本對西方對手造成了沖擊,導致西方制造業崗位外流。然而,西方決策者需要關注的不僅僅是種種小器具,還有萬維網(Worldwide Web)。這是因為,要理解為什么眼下有關不平等的爭論會在盎格魯撒克遜的政治世界如此盛行,為什么托馬斯?皮凱蒂(Thomas Piketty)關于該話題的新書《21世紀的資本》(Capital in the Twenty-First Century)會引發如此強烈的共鳴,十分重要的一點是要認識到,全球化的面貌正在發生微妙但重要的變化。