John Walker's Chinese Migration To California
292 Words2 Pages
Walker examines Chinese Migration to California from 1848-1882 through an economic lens. He contends that the Chinese merchant elites, who were the intermediaries of Chinese migration to California, treated the movement as a profitable business opportunity. He further argues that the Chinese merchants formed a cartel amongst each other to control passage fees and the incomes of the Chinese workers, and prices of commodities in California. To do so, the merchants constantly analysed the number of migrants, their wages, and turnover rates. Chinese merchants studied the supply and demand of the U.S. economy closely, so that they could react to opportunities and maximise their own operational profits. Their ability to bridge the white and Chinese