dagblog - Comments for "Trade Policy: Countering the Walmart Effect"

Walmart promoter says the

Resistance — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:50:57 +0000

In reply to Walmart is the world's

Walmart promoter says the stories about Walmart "may be somewhat overblown."

Unless you have something Walmart doesn't sell, you'll be all right, with their predatory practices.

Look out though, if they come in to compete.

Walmart is the world's

Jemie_E — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:39:19 +0000

In reply to Trade Policy: Countering the Walmart Effect

Walmart is the world's largest retailer. It has affected communities and businesses both nationwide and worldwide. Many individuals shop at Walmart, the chain known for near-rock bottom costs and massive stores, though many believe a brand new one is the harbinger of doom. However, the “Walmart effect” on things like small businesses and property values may be somewhat overblown. Article resource: Walmart effect.

Mondale asked "Wheres the

Resistance — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:54:00 +0000

In reply to If Free Trade worked we'd be

Mondale asked "Wheres the beef?"

Your President, just signed

Resistance — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:47:26 +0000

In reply to Free Trade under today's

Your President, just signed onto the most recent trade deals.

Saying " He HOPES, the new Trade partners will buy American products"

Is he for real; ........we sign on to trade agreements, HOPING things will work?

Did he extract any concessions from the Republicans for giving them what they wanted?

This President will never change, The change you can believe in, is what you see all around the country ........................DESPAIR

Free Trade under today's

Flavius — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:31:00 +0000

In reply to Trade Policy: Countering the Walmart Effect

Free Trade under today's conditions automatically results in a redistribution of wealth from the working class to those above them. Given the improvements in transportation and communication all production has to shift to subsistence economies.

The result will be lower prices which potentially benefit all but are irrelevant to the unemployed.. To the extent that this Globalization results in higher corporate profits that will benefit shareholders but not the unemployed or newly underpaid workers.

Classical economics, which usually seem to be associated with Marshall could not take account of today's conditions for the obvious reason that they didn't exist then.. Nevertheless conservative economists and far too many progressive ones frequently employ the anachronistic arguments of the classical economists.

GLOBALIZATION IS A BRAND NEW BALL GAME.

Past experiences and past theories are useless in trying to think about a world in which a $20 an hour worker in Akron now has to compete with a $20 a week Surinamer.

In another generation the US will be unrecognizable. Unrecognizably bad.

If Free Trade worked we'd be

Flavius — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:36:00 +0000

In reply to Trade Policy: Countering the Walmart Effect

If Free Trade worked we'd be able to look around us and see the beneficial results.

We can't and it doesn't

When Perot was running the

Donal — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:55:02 +0000

In reply to Donal, Yes, why not. I

When Perot was running the first time, my father was still marketing weapons systems to the military. Some of his coworkers and clients were enthusiastic, and asked him if would vote Perot. "No," he said "I already voted for Perot for President - and I didn't like the results."

They were puzzled, so he explained: Perot was in his class at the Naval Academy. Ross was a bright guy, and a Star Man (in the top five percent of his class academically) and they elected him class President. Fine. At one point, the freshmen class went out on some schooner for an intro to sailing maneuvers. But they didn't do much more than watch the experienced sailors.

Ross didn't like that. He wrote a letter to the brass, complaining that the whole experience was a waste of time, and that they should have had a chance to really sail the boat. But without consulting anyone, he signed the letter, as if the entire freshman class was in agreement. Consequently, the whole class got a reputation as squeaky wheels and troublemakers. It's tough enough being frosh at the academy without extra attention from the upperclassmen.

For some reason, being a Star Man exempted Ross from a lot of the hazing and whatnot, but the other 95% weren't. And they did resent taking the heat for his big mouth.

They did a story on

artappraiser — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:15:13 +0000

In reply to I cotton to the idea that the

They did a story on this

There is also the plain fact that China's wages are rising rapidly--which will be another factor in bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.

in the Times, "Small Business" page today:

A Company Grows, and Builds a Plant Back in the U.S.A.
By Adriana Gardella, October 12, 2011

Today, Taphandles employs 33 people at its headquarters in Seattle and about 450 at the Chinese factory that produces the beer-marketing products it sells to breweries. But its owner, Paul Fichter, who founded the company in 1999 and anticipates $11 million in revenue this year, expects that ratio to change. Mr. Fichter, 40, just signed a lease on a 41,800-square-foot factory in Woodinville, Wash., and began manufacturing some of his products there last month.

A Boston Consulting Group analysis released last week found that manufacturing outsourced to China has begun to return to the United States as the economic advantages have started to shift. The analysis predicts that, with Chinese wages rising at 15 to 20 percent a year and with the continued appreciation of the renminbi against the dollar, the gap between the labor costs in Chinese coastal provinces and in America’s lower-cost states will shrink to less than 40 percent by around 2015 — and could lead to the creation of two million to three million jobs in the United States.

Mr. Fichter recently discussed the factors that led him to bring some of his manufacturing back to this country. A condensed version of the conversation follows.

Q. Why did you decide to open your new factory in the United States?

A. The lead time for orders coming from China is three weeks, and all of our brewery clients want our products faster — that’s the first thing they say when we meet with them.

Q. Were there other factors?

A. Once we started looking into it, we found the decision made business sense on many levels. Our Chinese labor costs have increased 300 percent since 2006, when we opened our factory there. Even at the higher wages Chinese workers are demanding, it’s gotten harder to find labor. To stay competitive we’ve also had to upgrade benefits like dormitories and food. On top of that, the Chinese currency continues to appreciate — it was valued at 8.28 to the dollar when I started the business. Now it’s at 6.38. And I predict shipping costs will keep going up as a result of the rising cost of oil.

Q. Do you see other manufacturers making the same decision?

A. While I don’t personally know any, I think we’re on the leading edge of a trend because the factors that are affecting us affect everyone.

Q. Why isn’t it happening faster?

A. Change will take time. Five years ago, there was an absolute advantage to manufacturing in China. Today, some things are better produced here, and some are better produced there. It’s 50-50. But I think the U.S. advantage will become clearer with time.

[.... continued]

Continues with his comparisons of other things, including the skilled labor here, quality concerns, cost, lead time, expected # of jobs and pay etc.

Note what he says near the end about taxes:

Q. How are you financing your expansion?

A. Almost entirely with the tax savings we’re realizing because of the law Congress passed at the end of 2010, which allows capital investments to be deducted immediately, not over time. Last year, my tax liability was more than $500,000. This year, because of instant deductibility, I won’t have a tax liability. It’s an extremely important deduction. Normally, taxes are pretty punitive on growing businesses.

Donal, Yes, why not. I

Resistance — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:51:48 +0000

In reply to Do you want to hear my Dad's

Donal, Yes, why not.

I remember stopping by Perot's HQ and picking up a copy of his book.

Many of my co- workers wanted me to get more.

He was an odd fellow, with all of his graphs and his colloquialisms; but the greatest issue at the time in American history, was NAFTA and he was the only major candidate who would adequately address it.

Mind you, it was a single issue that grabbed my attention, but it was the most paramount one.

Many of us saw through this globalism/corporatism BS.

It was a race to the bottom, just as it was predicted to be.

Where are the manufacturing jobs? Overseas; in a country where labor is cheaper.

What happened to the American middle class? Cause and effect?

Do you want to hear my Dad's

Donal — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:02:51 +0000

In reply to Thank you. for this fine

Do you want to hear my Dad's Perot story?