News Sources: Chinese Product Safety

The "made-in-China" scare has sparked toy recalls and U.S. Senate investigations. Tackling product safety problems will require a combination of tougher regulation of China's manufacturers, importer vigilance and more inspections. But are America's bargain-minded masses willing to spend more for safety? Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find then online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including (click on names for contact information):

Barry Schwartz - Dorwin P. Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action, Swarthmore College - Schwartz is the author of The Costs of Living: How Market Freedom Erodes the Best Things in Life. He is an expert on the social and psychological effects of the free market on moral, social and civic concerns and in the rising hostility in American public life.

Margaret Maurer-Fazio - Associate Professor of Economics, Bates College - Maurer-Fazio's current research focuses on labor-market issues in China. With a wide network of Chinese contacts, she travels extensively in China with students, teaching environmental protection and economic development issues.

John A. Conkling - Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, Washington College - Conkling is internationally recognized for his work in pyrotechnics, the high energy solid state chemistry responsible for fireworks displays, road flares and other sound and light generating systems. Executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, he wrote federal safety regulations governing fireworks and is technical consultant to Chinese fireworks manufacturers.