Wal-Mart is Bad for America

News Type: Opinion — Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:11 PM EST

politics, china, america, trade, wal-mart, walmart

This Wednesday, retail giant Wal-Mart will open the doors to a new high-end version of its chain in Plano, Texas. Complete with high class wine, a fresh sushi bar, microbrewery beer, this store marks another attempt by the conglomerate to shed its image as an evil corporation that sells cheap goods at cutthroat prices. So why does the world's largest retailer have such a bad image?

Always Low Prices? Most of the people who shop at Wal-Mart do so because they believe they have the cheapest prices on everything. Not so. Wal-Mart has mastered the art of the 'price point,' having one or two products in every category marked at such a low price, other retailers can not meet. Not all the products in the line are priced this low though, but this creates the perception that everything it Wal-Mart is cheaper than anywhere else.

So What? When you hear about Wal-Mart putting all these "Mom and Pop" stores out of business, it's because so many people are going to Wal-Mart for what they believe are drastically lower prices. In fact, some experts estimate that nearly half of all American families shop at the store once a week. No one individual believes that buying a DVD out of the 5 dollar bin or picking up some cheap Christmas lights is going to hurt the American economy. Unfortunately, this groupthink may be doing just that. Wal-mart imports at least $15 billion of products from China each year. Our current trade deficit with China is over $170 billion. A little quick math would imply that Wal-Mart can personally account for about 10 percent of our trade deficit with China. Generally, the larger America's trade deficit is, the more American jobs are eliminated and go to foreign countries, where they can be done cheaper.

Frontline ran an excellent program awhile back titled "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" Well, I say no, it's not. What do you think and why.

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{"commentId":78234,"authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

Behind My Screen

Entelechy,

I am not Anti-Capitalist. I simply am not a laissez-faire capitalist.

If I went ahead and started citing John Maynard Keynes for support of a social welfare economy, would that add any weight to my arguments? No, all it would do is say that an economist agrees with me. WOW.

{"commentId":78234,"threadId":"12278","contentId":"148252","authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

1 vote

#101 - Wed Mar 29, 2006 1:25 PM EST

{"commentId":78257,"authorDomain":"Entelechy"}

Entelechy

If I went ahead and started citing John Maynard Keynes for support of a social welfare economy, would that add any weight to my arguments?

If Keynes' argument was interesting, then yes.

What is relevant is not who made the argument but whether the argument is a sound one. You seem to be confusing the practice of citing sources with the fallacy of "argument from authority."

Citing sources = "Friedman said X, which I think is a good argument." (This is what Fennec did.)

Argument from Authority = "You should think X, because Friedman said so."

See the difference?

{"commentId":78257,"threadId":"12278","contentId":"148252","authorDomain":"Entelechy"}

1 vote

#102 - Wed Mar 29, 2006 1:46 PM EST

{"commentId":78356,"authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

Behind My Screen

Fennec cited what Friedman said. That was not in dispute so the citation is in fact arguing from authority.

to quote fennec:

I'll quote Milton Friedman again, on the topic of having these nations "adopting the exact same labor, environmental, health, and safety standards as the United States".

that is in fact arguing from authority.

{"commentId":78356,"threadId":"12278","contentId":"148252","authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

#103 - Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:40 PM EST

{"commentId":82273,"authorDomain":"kirklennon"}

Kirk Lennon

I actually live in Plano and, in the mail last week, received a nifty little advertisement for the new Wal-Mart. It's a fold-out flier with lots of pretty pictures. The text of the flier is on Wal-Mart's page about its new store, along with a picture. This Wal-Mart looks much fancier than regular ones.

I absolutely love Wal-Mart. There is another supercenter closer than the new one that I do almost all of my shopping at. Just for kicks, however, I plan on making the 10-minute trip to the new one, just to see what it's all about. Incidentally, they are remodeling my supercenter. It now has brand new registers, an expanded clothing department, and a whole lot more wood flooring. Aside from the sushi bar and cafe, it's not that different from the new one. The prices truly are lower on average than my alternatives (a benefit of the economies of scale) and I especially love that they are open 24 hours a day. I usually go well after 10 pm. Sometimes I go at 2 in the morning. I like that kind of convenience, and I'm not the only one.

I didn't realize this new Wal-Mart was special until a couple of days ago. It doesn't surprise me however. This new one is aimed squarely at the women of Plano (which is decidedly upper-middle-class). It has a tiny auto care section and its sporting goods department heavily favors fitness equipment over, say, guns and camping equipment. This is a far cry from the rural Wal-Marts of yore.

{"commentId":82273,"threadId":"12278","contentId":"148252","authorDomain":"kirklennon"}

#104 - Sun Apr 2, 2006 11:46 PM EDT

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COREY SPRING

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Wal-Mart is Bad for America

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