Posts Tagged ‘Business’
Walmartization?
December 17, 2011 | 
Author I recently read an article that was very negative about the effects Wal-mart has had on the economy. I would link the article, however it was full of so many mis-statements and downright twisting of statistics I think it a disservice to the reader to subject them to the class warfare nonsense.
Rather, it seems better to just pose the question is Wal-Mart good for the US?
I have personal experience with the destruction Wal-Mart can have on a community, having said that destruction is not always a bad thing. My father owned a rather large sporting goods store in a small community, it was roughly the size of a Big 5 store with a mix of goods tended toward hunting and fishing. The store was very prosperous, I won’t go into the numbers because it is irrelevant but it was prosperous. That little store provided a good living for my father and three “nowhere dead-end” jobs suitable for retirees or highschool kids which I was at the time. Having said that, the only person at that store who could have been considered a “career” person would have been the owner. The rest of us were just biding our time or working for pocket cash as in the case of the “part-timers” my father employed.
That little store was put out of business by Wal-Mart, our store simply could not compete with Wal-marts buying power, and we bought “wholesale” at the same prices Wal-Mart sold retail. No matter what we did we couldn’t figure out how to go toe to toe with them, as for many items we sold price was the determining factor. So in the case of this illustration Wal-Mart was “Bad” for my father but was it bad for the community in general?
At the time I was getting paid $5 bucks an hour some of the other employees were paid more. Walmart’s entry-level pay was $9, they employed about 100 people in all skill levels along the pay curve. Many people began work there after quitting other lower paying jobs. So the net effect in our community was; several boutique style stores went out of business, hurting their owners but benefiting their employees as they were now employed by the Wal-Mart, at high wages with the option of career advancement, something that is not available in any small business.
The lower prices and higher service walmart provided raised the standard of living in the community by lowering the cost of everyday goods. Allowing their customers more disposable income. Within a year of Wal-Mart a bunch of “new” businesses opened, mainly restaurants. No doubt a result of the extra disposable income created by the savings on necessities that Wal-Mart brought.
So the net result of Wal-Mart was actually positive! Far from destroying small business Wal-Mart created opportunities for business that would not have existed without them. If you ask my dad today I think he would agree even though he is still chagrined by the loss of his store.
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Job Creation
Today we had quite a surprise on the “Unemployment Front”, the number of new jobs came in at 30% of estimates. That is like ordering a Wendy’s Triple with cheese and being slipped a single value burger.
The Obama Administration’s spokesperson came out and agreed the number was dismal, and then went on to tout “green jobs” and “infrastructure growth” her basic assumption is that government jobs = growth in the economy.
All government jobs are “Vampire Jobs” in order for government jobs to exist they have to “Feed” of the private sector. Some of what the government does is actually necessary, but most of it is not. Most government jobs are created not because of civic need, as in police officers, firemen, and military, but because of useless government meddling. As an example, the DMV is NOT a necessary function of government, would not your car run just as well without a license plate?
The vast majority of government jobs are basically “make work” schemes. Since all government jobs are “vampiric” the more government jobs the more anemic the economy because the more blood will be sucked out.
In order to create Good Jobs, you must first have a need for something that a private individual will pay for with their own excess capital. Good jobs add “value” to the economy. By adding private good jobs the economy grows. Good jobs get created when companies can produce more from an employees work than that employee consumes. The more efficient the employee the more value gets added to the system and the more economic growth results.
Government Jobs never grow the economy because government jobs never create profit. The problem with the economy today is that there is “too” much government involvement in the economy;
- The FDA is prosecuting Amish farmers for selling “Fresh” milk to willing and informed buyers.
- The EPA has barred U.S. Companies from drilling the Gulf while the Chinese and Cubans go ahead and drill there.
- The EPA is going to put a lizard on the endangered specie list to stop “land” drilling in west Texas.
- The IRS has added agents to enforce a healthcare bill nobody understands and Obama favored companies have been wavered from.
- The DOT is in the process of requiring all commercial vehicles to add “Black Box” devices to track drivers. The DOT is further complicating reporting and record keeping, so even individual truck owning small business people need to consult a “specialist” in order to just be regulatory compliant.
- The “Dodd Frank” finance reform bill has changed all the country’s banking rules except the ones that led to the “Crises” .
Dodd Frank has no changes to Fanny/Freddie or other Government mortgage manipulation. Dodd Frank does make it impossible for US banks to engage in certain banking practices which are highly profitable, which Americans specialize in and had nothing to do with the crash. These former US dominated services are being handed over to foreign banks. Dodd Frank should have been called the Deuche Bank Benefit Bill. The point being if we don’t roll back the power of government to meddle in the economy there will be “NO” actual growth.
Jobs are created only when, someone can provide a good or service which someone else is willing to buy freely.
Herman Cain – Best At Debate
I have long been a fan of Ron Paul, at heart I am a libertarian.
I am baffled by Americans who are not, our founders were libertarians. If I thought Ron Paul could win I wouldn’t be making this post. Having said that, it is so refreshing to have a Non-Politician who is actually qualified for the office. Our country needs a businessman at the helm, that means either Donald Trump or Herman Cain. As for Donald Trump I am suspicious on his conservative bona fides, also as a Christian myself I find it hard to believe that a man in the public as much as Trump is just now revealing his Christianity. It seems to me that if Trump had real “Christian” values it would not come as a surprise announcement, it should have been widely known. Also Trump is a Pro-Business Progressive, which is better than Obama but not better than Herman Cain who I view as a pro business libertarian who is actually qualified for the office.
If Ron Paul gets the nomination I will support him. If Herman Cain gets the nomination I will support him. I was not particularly impressed by the other candidates at the debate. The other leading Candidates in the field are weak GOP progressive sleepers. Mit Romney, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich these guys may be good Americans but they are in fact progressives, I’ve had enough of progressives. As for the others who were at the debate many I have supported in the past but nothing they said tonight did much to make me think “This is Refreshing”.
Herman Cain actually gave me hope, if we support him he’ll kick Obama’s socialist ass!