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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Thank you, Jaimie |
| Date | Sat, 12 May 2007 15:48:39 -0400 |
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At Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 12:16:04 Michael Bennett wrote:
You hit the nail right on the head!!!
>In some respects, this debate is kind of like the debate that goes on about
>Wal-Mart. Most economists will say that Wal-Mart is good for the economy,
>because it offers so many goods at really low prices. This is good for the
>consumer, and that's why it's good for the economy.
>
>But there is a downside to this. To adhere to the low price points,
>Wal-Mart puts a lot of pressure on producers. There was a great New York
>Times article a few years ago about Ohio Arts, the company that makes the
>Etch-a-Sketch. The Etch-a-Sketch factory was in a small Ohio town and was
>really the entire economy for the town. Wal-Mart started selling
>Etch-a-Sketches, setting a low price point. In a couple of years, orders
>exploded. Sounds good, right? But with rising wages and health care
>costs, profits were flat. Ohio Arts asked Wal-Mart if they could raise the
>retail price. Wal-Mart said -- stay at this price, or we won't sell your
>product. The result? They closed down the Ohio factory and moved
>production to China. The small town was devastated.
>
>In some respects, the way musicians are getting squeezed isn't much
>different than workers and companies, as technology and other factors
>(cheap labor pools) skew the market.
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