[extropy-chat] Seven cents an hour? (was: Riots in France)

[John K Clark]

"Jack Parkinson" <isthatyoujack at icqmail.com>

> If, hypothetically, Wal-Mart was replaced by several thousand smaller
> independent stores, all paying their employees a decent living wage,
> and all competing to keep prices low, wouldn't the US be better
> off in overall terms?

NO! I rather doubt that Billy Bobs Pretty Good Hardware Store or any of the
thousands of other stores in your hypothetical could match Wal-Mart's
legendary hyper efficiency; most economists agree that Wal-Mart can take
credit for a big chunk of the productivity growth America had the good
fortune to receive over the last 10 years, and productivity is the name of
the game, it is the generator of wealth. So in your world the pool of people
wanting a job would be the same but there would be less money available to
pay their salary. And consumers would be paying far more than they should
for goods. That's not a world I want to live in.

   John K Clark