dismal science In Praise of Cheap labor Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all By Paul Krugman 7,669 words: posted Thursday, March 20: to be composted Thursday, March 27) For many years a huge Manila garbage dump known as Smokey Mountain was a favorite media symbol of Third World poverty. Several thousand men, women, and children lived on that dump--enduring the stench the flies and the toxic waste in order to make a living combing the garbage for scrap metal and other recyclables. And they lived there voluntarily, because the $10 or so a squatter family could clear in a day was better than the alternatives squatters are gone now, forcib by philippine police last year as a cosmetic move in advance of a Pacific Rim summit. But I found myself thinking about Smokey Mountain recently, after reading my latest batch of hate mail The occasion was an op-ed piece I had written for the New York Times, in which I had pointed out chat while wages and working conditions in the new export industries of the Third world are appalling, they are a big improvement over theprevious, less visible rural poverty. "I guess I should have expected that this comment would generate letters along the lines of, "Well, if you lose your comfortable position as an american professor you can always find another job--as long as you are 12 years old and willing to work for 40 cents an hour Such moral outrage is common among theIn Praise of Cheap Labor Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all. By Paul Krugman (1,669 words; posted Thursday, March 20; to be composted Thursday, March 27) For many years a huge Manila garbage dump known as Smokey Mountain was a favorite media symbol of Third World poverty. Several thousand men, women, and children lived on that dump--enduring the stench, the flies, and the toxic waste in order to make a living combing the garbage for scrap metal and other recyclables. And they lived there voluntarily, because the $10 or so a squatter family could clear in a day was better than the alternatives. The squatters are gone now, forcibly removed by Philippine police last year as a cosmetic move in advance of a Pacific Rim summit. But I found myself thinking about Smokey Mountain recently, after reading my latest batch of hate mail. The occasion was an op-ed piece I had written for the New York Times, in which I had pointed out that while wages and working conditions in the new export industries of the Third World are appalling, they are a big improvement over the "previous, less visible rural poverty." I guess I should have expected that this comment would generate letters along the lines of, "Well, if you lose your comfortable position as an American professor you can always find another job--as long as you are 12 years old and willing to work for 40 cents an hour." Such moral outrage is common among the