[Vision2020] Re: Joan and her arguments against a WalMart Supercenter

[Donovan Arnold]

Andreas,

I really am shocked to say the least by this post. I really did think that
you had a better understanding how the retail industry and economics works.
However, your statements show your understanding to extremely poor:

I unfortunately, with two jobs and full-time grad school, I do not have the
time to give your reply the full justice it deserves. However, I will 
address a few points.

First, Wal-Mart does not "Force" manufacturers to move overseas. Wal-Mart
does not have any legal authority to do so. Wal_mart knows what a product a must
sell in order to buy it. They are not going to buy a DVD player for $75 that
will not sell and just sits on their shelf preventing an item that can sell
from from being there. If the manufacturer cannot produce the DVD player for less
then $75 they have four choices,

A) Find another buyer besides Wal-Mart, like Target, Sears, ShopKo, etc.
B) Give everyone pay cuts
C) Move overseas
B) Shut down

You seem to fail to realize that Wal_Mart does not set the price, consumers do.
People in the United States will not pay $250 for a cheap DVD player so a 
US union worker can be paid $35 an hour + free medical. The product will just sit
on the self collecting dust. 

You seem oblivious to the reality that if Wal-Mart does not sell the $250 DVD player
made in China for just $15, that somebody else will, perhaps a foreign owned company. 

You also seem to lose site of the reality that people are clamoring for
Wal_mart jobs in China and the US. Chicago, a union town, has a Wal-Mart
coming in and it got 25,000 applications for 500 positions. Same thing
happened in California, and many other places. In an economy with less than
a 5% unemployment rate.

I do agree with you on two points however, Andreas.

First, I do agree that Wal-Mart is wiping out businesses. The worst
five percent of businesses, the ones that charge too much and rip off
their customers will be wiped out, no doubt. Wal_mart will do to the
retail industry that CDs did the record companies, the combine did
to the farmer, what the automobile did the horse and buggy industry.
Change and growth hurt, and sometimes hurt good people. But aren't you
glad Moscow did not prevent automobiles from coming into Moscow to protect 
Bob and Cindy's buggy dealership? Aren't you glad we did not prevent CDs from coming
in to save sweet Mary's record album manufacturing Co.?

Second, that overseas working conditions are not satisfactory. We
should set up a Federal law that mandates a certain set of standards
be made for working conditions in overseas factories. If any ship coming
to US shore contains any goods made by workers not meeting those standards
it shall be returned back to where it came from.

I am going to bed.

_DJA

 






		
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