Is Wal-Mart Good For the Economy?

[shula_guy]

Originally Posted by The_Dark_Knight

I get a kick out of all of this disdain about "out sourcing" or "sweat shops". Either some of you are too young and don't know about...or have completely forgotten about when I was young and everything was "Made in Japan". Retail stores purchasing their inventories at the lowest cost possible has been the cornerstone of our economy for the last 50 plus years...whether they were manufactured here in America or overseas.

Remember these??????
Made in Japan
Made in Mexico
Made in Taiwan
Made in China

Now as for all of these claims that Walmart owns all of these "sweat shops", you're going to have to prove that to me!! Walmart is doing nothing that no other retail store...K-Mart, Montomgery Ward and many smaller local retail outlet stores have done before them. Everything was "Made in Taiwan" at the local Pic-N-Save stores in Jacksonville Beach when I was growing up.

Only in hard economic times does it seem that Walmart is now the bad guy.

I remember those days you speak of, and the difference between them and today is NAFTA. Those foreign products payed a heavy tariff to be marketed over here making it more econmic for manufactors to build their products in the USA rather then over seas. Couple that with an education system that is lagging behind the rest of the worlds and it creates a very serious employment issue here. Hi-Tech industries are looking overseas for the more educated minds and manufactors are looking overseas for the cheaper labor. Americans are pumping billions if not trillions of dollars into the world economy, instead of into our own. Outsourcing and illeagle immigration are very real problems that our nation faces.

[Ferretsquig]

Originally Posted by The_Dark_Knight

I get a kick out of all of this disdain about "out sourcing" or "sweat shops". Either some of you are too young and don't know about...or have completely forgotten about when I was young and everything was "Made in Japan". Retail stores purchasing their inventories at the lowest cost possible has been the cornerstone of our economy for the last 50 plus years...whether they were manufactured here in America or overseas.

It has not been the cornerstone of the economy for the past 50+ years. At one point in time not too long ago manufacturing was the cornerstone of the economy.

Let's not confuse consumer spending with real growth. That lesson should have been hammered home this past year.....incurring debt to purchase goods is not a form of sustainable growth. Wealth is generated by creating goods and services, not by paying someone else to do it for you.

[phins_4_ever]

Originally Posted by The_Dark_Knight

Remember these??????
Made in Japan
Made in Mexico
Made in Taiwan
Made in China

Sure we remember these. But those were also in times when it was quite harder to import (higher tariffs and import restrictions) and it was supplemental to our own production. This "Made in <any place>..." has now become a corner stone for almost every business. Import is up, export is down, production is down, price index is up.

[Miamian]

The title of this thread concerns whether Wal-Mart is good for the economy. Implicit in that is the US economy.

IMO, it's horrible for the economy. A study of Wal-Marts in Mississippi showed just that. Neighborhood shops cannot hope to compete with Wal-Mart and go out of business. Without other shops, many people are forced to turn to Wal-Mart for jobs and they pay ridiculously low wages. As a result income in the community plummets.

[PressCoverage]

Originally Posted by Miamian

The title of this thread concerns whether Wal-Mart is good for the economy. Implicit in that is the US economy.

IMO, it's horrible for the economy. A study of Wal-Marts in Mississippi showed just that. Neighborhood shops cannot hope to compete with Wal-Mart and go out of business. Without other shops, many people are forced to turn to Wal-Mart for jobs and they pay ridiculously low wages. As a result income in the community plummets.

Agreed...

But, that's unbridled capitalism in a nutshell, though, yes? Consolidation, economic warfare, selling the poor the rope to hang themselves with, contracting for cheap products made in 3rd world countries?

Some people see little problem with that free market strategy... If you ask me, it's not very Christian at all... Certainly not very patriotic.

[phinfan3411]

Originally Posted by shula_guy

I remember those days you speak of, and the difference between them and today is NAFTA. Those foreign products payed a heavy tariff to be marketed over here making it more econmic for manufactors to build their products in the USA rather then over seas. Couple that with an education system that is lagging behind the rest of the worlds and it creates a very serious employment issue here. Hi-Tech industries are looking overseas for the more educated minds and manufactors are looking overseas for the cheaper labor. Americans are pumping billions if not trillions of dollars into the world economy, instead of into our own. Outsourcing and illeagle immigration are very real problems that our nation faces.

I do not think our education system is the big problem, it is our family unit, and the value we put on education.

I was at a wedding last weekend, and sat at the same table with a nice guy originally from India. He was in his last year of residency at Buffalo General Hospital, and he and his sister had come to America to get their education to become doctors.

Nothing wrong with education system here, just the idiots in it.

[jguig]

Originally Posted by phinfan3411

I do not think our education system is the big problem, it is our family unit, and the value we put on education.

I was at a wedding last weekend, and sat at the same table with a nice guy originally from India. He was in his last year of residency at Buffalo General Hospital, and he and his sister had come to America to get their education to become doctors.

Nothing wrong with education system here, just the idiots in it.

Very true. There are so many people who eschew formal education because they see it as a "white" value. I've been told this numerous times. Sadly, education is the most important tool for anyone to get ahead regardless of their background. People with that mindset guarantee their own failure in life. They also set up their future generations for failure also.

While there are certainly problems in any school, promoting education as a core value in children AND parents that practice this value through their example are key.

That is why school choice is important. It gives people who care about their education a chance to get out of failing schools and ensure a brighter future. I just don't understand how so many people who claim to be Pro-Choice are against being Pro-Choice for schools.

[The_Dark_Knight]

Originally Posted by Ferretsquig

It has not been the cornerstone of the economy for the past 50+ years. At one point in time not too long ago manufacturing was the cornerstone of the economy.

Let's not confuse consumer spending with real growth. That lesson should have been hammered home this past year.....incurring debt to purchase goods is not a form of sustainable growth. Wealth is generated by creating goods and services, not by paying someone else to do it for you.

I mis-spoke. I meant to say that retail stores purchasing their inventory at the lowest possible wholesale price, whether from foreign or domestic manufacturers has been the cornerstone of their business for the last 50+ years.

[Locke]

There is a documentary called "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices". I would recommend it to anyone. It puts things in perspective for anyone pretty well I think.

Personally, I will not buy anything from Wal-Mart. I usually shop at local markets, but thats just a personal choice of mine. The only way to save the economy is to invest your money into your local economies. Besides that, Wal-Mart is the best example of why the economy is failing. If I have to buy something at a larger chain, its probably going to be Target...