They drove manufacturing jobs in droves to China in the good times and we shopped there for "everyday low prices," shopped ourselves straight out of our own jobs. And now that the good times seem to have vanished overnight, we're still shopping there because it's all we can afford.
Welcome to the world of Wal-Mart.
While still feeling the pinch just a tad, Wal-Mart exceeded analysts' forecasts for fourth-quarter profits. And, yes, sales were up too - $109 billion up from $107-billion for the same quarter in 2007.
Chrysler and GM may be headed the way of the dodo bird but Wal-Mart seems immune to the downturn.
4 comments:
.. shopped ourselves straight out of our own jobs
Yes, pay them so poorly that the only place they can afford to shop to put shoes on the children is at our store.
A few weeks ago I hosted a well-meaning, recently-retired-on-a very-modest-income house guest who wanted to shop at Wal-Mart and then lunch at the in-store McDonalds. Sad.
Mal-Wart= company store. They sold our souls. Bah.
It would be a great thing to start a "shop Canadian" promotion. Sadly, there isn't much one can buy anymore, I try everytime I walk into a store.
The thrift shops have more Canadian made clothes than the retailers do.
Short term profits for the corporations, for long term pain for the rest of us was all that we have gotten from globalization.
Pale - as true now as when it was first written in the 40s.
Yes, buying Canadian is a real challange, and has been for some time now. (heck, just walk into a store and start looking at labels for something NOT made in China, it's amazing)
That's what bothered me with diverting precious stimulus spending to middle class tax cuts instead in the Harper budget. The limited amount received by the taxpayer will either go into paying off old debt for non-stimulus purchases or will be squandered at places like Wal-Mart on Chinese toasters or Indian-made T-shirts or Indonesian TVs. That'll surely stimulate the chinese, Indian or Indonesian economies, just not Canada's.
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