COMMENTS:
Walmart definitely generates mixed feelings. On the one hand, just about every middle class American shops there, and we all enjoy the lower prices.
When we step back from enjoying our "deals," we begin to realize the downside of Walmart, and it is huge: They destroy small town mainstreet business, turning them into virtual ghosttowns, they buy cheap from foreign suppliers, they cause a reduction in the wages of all laborers in a market area by modeling the non-union wage system, and they crush workers whenever they try to unionize, even going so far as to close stores when a union victory seems imminent. Huge downside.
But watch what we do: We say, "what the heck, it's going to happen no matter where I go, so I'm going to save some money at Walmart."
And I don't like it at all. I'd address this issue more fully, but I've got to run over to Walmart to get some paint.
Good Ballot, Crank.
Most corporations don't have a real nationality.
I'd accept their definition of their nationality, and I'm pretty certain they'd choose to be American. Going Chinese might leave them open to assimilation by the Communist government.
It is wholly American. Wal-Mart is ingenious in some ways because it's strategy has been to not only bring to the retail market cheap mass produced goods, which allows it to under-cut its competitors, but it also has positioned itslef as indespensible to China's economy. Last year, it imported $18 billion with of goods from China. Note, that all of those goods are considered non-durable, not essential goods, so what China is making, is really making it a paper tiger -- no one needs those goods, they just want them. When that want disappears, so do all those jobs. In addition, Wal-Mart owns a minimum of 50% of those factoires in China which was unheard of a few years ago (China rarely allowed foreign ownership of its factories). China needs Wal-Mart more than Wal-Mart needs China at this point -- precisely why China tends to bend over bakwards to accomodate Wal-Mart.
Given the inter-dependency of the global economy, a nation like China is actually much more vunerable than people realize. China, like most of Asia, has export driven economies, so they import very little and their people buy very little with thier new found wealth. Becuase what they tend to manufacture is cheap consumer products, they are highly dependent on the West doing well economically because if the consumers in western nations no longer can or will buy the goods Asia makes (and they don't need to, as they are cheap consumer "entertainment" products), Asia would find itslef with massive unemployment, low or no demand for their products and virtually impossible to convert their factories into production of anything considered to be a durable hard line good.
In terms of exports, the US still accounts for over $2million dollars of the $8million dollars worth of goods produced every minute across the globe.
Sorry, got a little over-enthused with my own sense of knowledge :)
Walmart bites. Everything about them is a lie.
Walmart should be shut down
|
