The emergence of China as a manufacturing god has had more of an effect on the Africans than it has on the Americans. Americans had consumer goods before, although at prices that we could only afford to pay when we had jobs in the factories that made them. Now they are cheap enough that we can still have them even though the wages of Americans has been dropping for 30 years. In Africa, the Chinese merchandise is the first that they've ever had. This tree may soon be replaced by a Costco wire display shelf.
