[fredex]

"No, you won't get a single econ prof to say that the Chinese are more efficient at sewing buttons."

Are you serious? A Chinese worker will produce more sewing buttons for $1 than an American can. I'm very sure every reputable economist agrees.

[tsiki]

Obviously, but we're talking absolute terms here. Look at his examples (20 fingers etc). He's talking about the efficiency of sewing buttons, not about the efficiency of sewing buttons compared to the salary.