i'm sorry to disagree with this writer about the the Chinese Gulags and lashes (Who makes parkside tools)
As a visitor and trader with China, I can say this for a fact; most prices are driven down by the "First buyer market" USA because of the huge distribution available there and they want it for the least bucks.
Second market, Germany, always happy for a bargain, then the rest of the EU, price according to national income statistics. when you see what the "distributers" will offer the factory owner per piece, in return for volume, there is only one answer, "sell em cheap, stack em high" and you can't understand how cheap cheap is.
Only the factory owner and a few Big importers will make out of that deal. Please don't imagine there is any surpus to pay the workers.
Secondly, the Chinese can produce very good stuff.
When the Japanese started pulling out of the Chinese co-operatives, because the factories wanted to produce-share in a little of the "Rewards of their labours" the Japanese simply went to Malaysia and Indonesia, S Korea etc, new folks new deals. New Nikons for example.
Before we whip the Chinese factory systems, perhaps we ought to test the whip a little closer home, perhaps on governments and the people that allow cheap disposable crap to be made and chucked in the bin after 10 mins to be made and imported, then hopefully, we might pay just a bit more and get a bit more back to the factory incumbents.
Lastly, big prices do not mean big quality, they mean security to the user and a "Back" to goods, but quite frankly they cannot either be justified as they part of the same sly marketing scheme to outwit the dim.