foxconn

Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer that probably assembled your new iPad, is on the hot seat again this week, reviving discussions about evils of offshoring. But if you think money is the only reason why Apple doesn't make its gadgets closer to home, you're missing the bigger picture.

An independent group, the Fair Labor Association, has started auditing Apple's Chinese supplier Foxconn after a request by Apple. The technology company last month disclosed a list of its suppliers for the iPhone, iPad and other popular gadgets for the first time amid growing criticism over labor and environmental practices, especially in China.

If you want to give your loved ones environmental peace and joy, you might want to hold off on buying them the latest hot gadgets as gifts. E-waste is a dirty problem that lingers far beyond the time when Christmas present becomes Christmas past.

Friday's Wall Street Journal featured an article headlined "Measuring the Human Cost of an iPad Made in China," and what followed is a distressingly good example of the dangers of reporting the world from the perspective of revenue-maximizing alone.

A fall in U.S. applications for unemployment benefits sparked a buying spree in Asia. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index gained 1.2%, the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.4% and Japan's's Nikkei 225 Index added 1%.

Shares closed lower in Asia on Monday. In China the Shanghai Composite fell 1.7% to 2,792 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index dropped 0.7% to 23,527. Markets in Japan were closed in celebration of Coming of Age Day.

The death toll at electronics giant Foxconn rose to 14 today as a worker jumped from Foxconn's Shenzhen manufacturing complex in Southern China. The company manufactures Apple's iPhone and iPad and electronics for other technology titans.

In American public life, it's hard to escape popular appeals about the virtues of the middle class. Yet a growing cadre of analysts are concerned about the steady erosion of the middle class and the industrial base that created it.

Here's news from the business world and other money matters to watch out for Thursday (last updated at 8:02 a.m. Eastern time): Mattel Accused Of Espionage: Toys are a profitable and competitive business, but do they involve espionage? MGA Entertainment reportedly believes so, alleging Barbie-doll...

Foxconn Technology Group will hire as many as 400,000 workers in China in the coming year. The company, which was rocked by a string of employee suicides earlier this year, also plans to build factories closer workers' homes. The Taiwanese company, which makes products including the Apple (AAPL)...