Another interesting related populist-economics book is
"The Mystery of
Capital" by Hernando de Soto
I've got Japan in the Passing Lane by Satoshi Kamata in my 'to-read' pile of
books. It's by a journalist who took a casual job at the Toyota car plant in
the early 70's to find out the truth behind the 'economic miracle'.
I didn't mean to start an off-topic thread with my simple answer to the
enquiry about the low prices of Chinese made audio hardware. But it does
occur to me that Linux users are very interested in concepts of freedom and
community, and I think it would be hypocritical to reserve those concerns for
our own elite group.
Cheers
Daniel