I know that title is going to ruffle some feathers, but I'm dead serious. We hear from Johnny and Suzie do-gooder all the time telling us how we shouldn't support companies or countries that use child labor. But I want to take some time on today's show and demonstrate how child labor, in combination with free market principles and the rule of law can lift people out of poverty. I'll admit it's hard for me to think about my young girls being sent off at the age of 7 or 8 to a factory to make t-shirts. What kind of monster would do such at thing? I can hear you right now saying something like "We're lucky here in America because we have laws that prevent that kind of child abuse. " But is it the law that keeps kids out of sweatshops in America? Certainly laws can act as a deterrent to crime but if you were starving to death would a child labor law keep you from putting your son or daughter to work helping feed the family? In fact, the "law" doesn't even prevent child labor today. When I
