So restoring differentials would roughly double the direct cost of the minimum wage.

ECONOMIST: The minimum wage

While the direct labor required to manufacture such products is considerably lower, overall lower wage rates enable Chinese manufacturers to benefit from building, equipment, engineering and overhead costs that are substantially lower than those for their Western counterparts.

FORBES: China��s Low Cost Capital

If offshoring were to continue growing at the same rate over the next ten years, the average wage paid in the services sector would fall by 2% as a direct consequence.

ECONOMIST: New evidence shows that the gains outweigh the losses