i just saw a 60 minutes episode about wal-mart.
they have changed the way manufacturers do bussiness with retailers. wal-mart actually tells them what product they want, and how much they will pay for it. there is no selling, no bartering. they pay bottom dollar for it, and they will even help a manufacturer make the product for theri price.
they have helped many bussiness transfer their manufacturing facilities to China, where the average emploee earns 50 cents an hour with no benifits.
Rubbermaid refused to move to China, and they refused to sell to wal-mart at wal-marts price. the result? the CEO of Rubbermaid was fired, and their largest plant was shut down due to a lack of bussiness costing a small town over 1000 jobs.
Rubbermaid sells to wal-mart now at wal-mart prices.
as a result of the way they do bussiness, wal-mart is the largest retailer in the country now. they have the ability to make a company grow from a few thousand sales a year to a few million sales a year over night. currently, the majority of the products they sell come from China, even the "american made" products come from "american" manufacturing plants in China.
the pros:
better prices for consumers
the cons:
outsourcing of american jobs.
they are a lean retail machine. when they buy from a manufacturer, they go into the buying office knowing what it costs to make the product, knowing the profit margin for the manufacturer, knowing how much of a loss they will take on a product to sell bulk, adn willing to help a company move to China to increase their profit margine, so wal-mart can get the product at the best price.
good, bad, reguardless, it is the future of retail in america. our largest retailer is helping move hundreds of thousands of american jobs overseas in order to sell you the best product at the lowest price.
companies following their model are Target.
companies not folloing their model are companies in bankrupcy, like Sears, K-Mart, most department stores including Macys, Bloomingdales, and mom and pop stores all over this country.
these are facts.
weather you personally feel government should intervene with legislation to controll outsourcing, and how bussines to bussiness overseas, or weather you believe companies have a right to do bussiness however they deem fit to, here or abroad, these are the facts. this is happening now.
another little note for you. it was the Clinton addministraition that negotiated free trade with China that is allowing Wal-Mart to expand there. that is not saying they wouldnt have done it in Tiawan, Korea or elsewhere reguardless.
but the Clinton addministraition sold free trade to China to the people as a means to sell American goods overseas. a bill sponsered by Wal-Mart and other big bussiness lobbiests. the reality is, China is buying American raw materials, like wood, concrete, steel, but the only consumer goods being sold are goods manufactured in their country, being sold in this country.
our current trade deficit with China is around 125 billion and growing every year.
should this be regualted? or should we allow big bussiness to transform this country into a user society instead of an industrial society?
should government interfere with bussiness for the benifit of this country? or pander to big bussiness to the detriment of this country? or remain nutral and not interfere either way?
republian or democrat does not matter. they are both selling american jobs to overseas countries.
good? bad? natural evolution of this country?
reguardless of how you feel, this is reality today. we ARE becoming a user society as our industry continues to be sold to third world countries by both the democratic and republican addministraitions.
this is happening.