"Two cheers for sweatshops"

This article http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/magazine/two-cheers-for-sweatshops.html?ref=sherylwudunn&pagewanted=1 by Sheryl WuDunn in a very good way describes the advantages of sweatshops in Asia. She concludes that boycotting goods produced in sweatshops is "stjälping" instead of "helping" impoverished people across the Asian continent.

For IB students this article is good in many ways. It addresses trade as a measure of alleviating poverty and bridging the gap between the rich in the poor. She is not ignorant to the fact that horrendous working conditions exists in sweatshop, but in order to have economic growth there seems to be a necessity to endure some hardship first. She refers to a Chinese proverb in her text: ''First comes the bitterness, then there is sweetness and wealth and honor for 10,000 years.''