Aaron, thanks for mentioning me alongside Kristof and Krugman. One thing that needs to be mentioned is that Cambodia has one of the most well run and monitored garment industries in the world. The International Labor Organization has a very strong presence.

After walking into a garment factory in Cambodia, most people would not consider it a "sweatshop." That's why I hate the term. The factories I visited in Cambodia were not all that different from garment factories I visited in the US. For the most part workers seem to be treated with dignity, and cases of child labor are all but erased. Perhaps one of the industry's biggest problems in Cambodia is over unionization. There are about 300 factories and about 800 unions!

In fact, Cambodia markets itself to clothing brands as sweat-free.

I've visited actual sweatshops, dark, dangerous, hot, dehumanizing places. Most of the factories in Cambodia are not like this. For Kristof to call them sweatshops is a bit off in my book. But hey, I'm just some author who spent the better part of the past two year writing and researching a book on the subject, what do I know???

Even given the better working conditions in Cambodia, life for the workers is still tough. The average worker (late teen or early twenties women) supports six or seven people on their wage of $50 per month. Some of them have to pay bribes to get their job. I met 8 workers that shared a 8'X12' room. For of the girls slept on a wood bed (more of a table, really) and four of the girls slept on the concrete floor. The girls on the floor like it there because it's cooler.

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