Final Word from Thursday, January 24, 2008
The outrage over Nokia's decision to end mobile-phone production in Bochum, Germany, continues, with politicians there calling for a boycott of Nokia handsets and employees demanding that Nokia's decision be reversed. The result is just as predictable as the short-lived outrage that accompanied LG.Philips' decision to pull out of a TV-set investment in Moravia. Nokia, like LG.Philips, will essentially be able to do as it sees fit. And so it should be, say free-marketeers, who argue that the Nokia case is a wake-up call for Germany and its overpaid workers. What's missing from the debate is an appreciation of the role Asian suppliers are playing in the job-killing. EU assembly jobs might be moving to CEE, but most of the high-value production is still much farther East and will remain there until the EU confronts the Asian invasion. In the meantime, the CR and Romania can "delight" in being a just-in-time assembly point between Asia and the rest of Europe.[Czech Republic China Displays Central and Eastern Europe Chinese]
Glossary of difficult words
outrage - a very strong reaction of anger, shock or indignation;
to do as one sees fit - to do as one pleases;
free-marketeer - a person who believes in unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses;
wake-up call - a person or thing that causes people to become fully aware of a situation and to take action to remedy it;
CEE - Central and Eastern Europe;
just-in-time - denoting a manufacturing system in which materials or parts are delivered immediately before they are are required in order to minimize inventory costs.