WALMART, good for George Bush

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Wal-Mart's Right-wing Agenda

Wal-Mart's Policy of Greed

[AURaptor 1,125]

Commie pinko lib, go cry to your party official somewhere else.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Communist propaganda

[otterinbham 0]

Bottomfeeder, you really do need an actual course in economics.

Here's a good primer that puts away all those tired bromides of the left: Cowboy Capitalism by Olaf Gersemann, a German economist.

He set out to write a book that essentially was a strong critique of how the American economy functions. Instead, the more research he conducted, the more he realized that the American economy was far stronger and more vital than the European economy.

One of the factors he cites is Wal-Mart. According to his calculations, Wal-Mart alone shaves 2-3 points off the inflation rate of this country.

Further, if you believe in a free country you quickly realize that nobody has to work at Wal-Mart. They are welcome to go somewhere else. With an unemployment rate under 5% in this country (Remember that Clinton economists such as Robert Reich thought anything under 6% was completely unrealistic) and unemployment under 3% in places such as Birmingham, there are plenty of jobs to be found elsewhere.

The problem with those criticisms is that they're based on the old factory model of employment. Well in a situation where creative destruction is the primary driver of economic strength, it is simply impossible to use the old models of lifetime employment.

[japantiger 4,051]

In the words of Bugs Bunny...."what a maroon"....

WalMart is a net add to the economy..WalMart saves MILLIONS of lower income Americans BILLIONS per year....yet they are the bad guy in this? So it would be better for the lower income Americans to pay a small Mom and Pop more money for their detergent, soap, TV's, etc.,...I guess I cut class the day they taught this Liberal economic principle...Once again, Liberals looking out for the little guy....

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Corporate Greed and Super Exploitation of Workers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECh6jejMieE

[AURaptor 1,125]

There is no such thing as Corp. Greed, moron. If you don't like WalMart, don't shop there. It's called freedom of choice. If 'the workers' don't like where they are working, they can get a job somewhere else.

" This isn't Russia. Is this Russia ? This isn't Russia " - Ty Webb

[Bottomfeeder 244]

There is no such thing as Corp. Greed, moron.

Hmm, I expected nothing less than name calling coming from you. Even some GOPer's notice corporate greed. And, I refuse to call you a name. I'm above that childess behavior, now.

Judas of the GOP lashes out at corporate greed

In Phillips' eyes, those periods of "market idolatry" pale in comparison to the way wealth has concentrated since the Reagan presidency. Here's one eye- opening example. If you're lucky enough to make $100,000 a year, you place in the most prosperous one-fifth of U.S. households. Not bad, you may think. But in 1999, 90 percent of all the wealth gained by that upper fifth went to the top 1 percent, which means there's as much of a dollar distance between you and the nation's ultra-rich above you as between you and the struggling poverty-line families down below.

"As the new millennium unfolded," Phillips observes, "the United States, long shed of its revolutionary outlook, . . . had become home to greater economic inequality than any other Western nation." In our day, CEOs who bankrupted their companies, cheated their stockholders and burned their employees make 400 times more than production workers. And since money talks, income disparity of that magnitude easily translates into power.

As aggravating as Phillips finds this "morphing of politics into a marketplace," he is more concerned that the corporate elite makes most of its money off finance, tax avoidance and shifty speculation, adding little to the true wealth of the nation. "Market theology and unelected leadership," he concludes, "have been displacing politics and elections. Either democracy must be renewed, with politics brought back to life, or wealth is likely to cement a new and less democratic regime -- plutocracy by some other name."

The "free" market, as he makes clear, has never been free of the services and favors the rich can afford to buy from government. The very status of corporations is a political artifact guarded by laws and courts. Trading in the tax-funded government debt has been one of the shortest roads to riches. Even shorter has been owning influence in the state house, the Congress, the courts, the Fed and the White House.

As Phillips observes, the hottest investment in the land is legislation. Money spent buying political candidates can yield returns (by way of tax breaks, contracts, corporate welfare, friendly regulatory decisions) of up to 100,000 percent. In the current year alone, lobbyists have bought steel and soft-wood tariffs and the fattest farm subsidies on record. Conservatives quibble about Phillips' statistics, but his analysis of our deepening "democratic deficit" is hard to fault. Unfettered self-interest makes a mockery of markets. In "Wealth and Democracy," Phillips may be raking the same pile of muck over again, but his message bears as much repetition as any Pepsi commercial: Mr. and Mrs. America, you're getting screwed.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fe...l?msg_id=009HfC

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Not a fan of the captialism, eh?

[AURaptor 1,125]

There is no such thing as Corp. Greed, moron.

Hmm, I expected nothing less than name calling coming from you. Even some GOPer's notice corporate greed. And, I refuse to call you a name. I'm above that childess behavior, now.

You're arguing 2 seperate things here. What does " CEOs who bankrupted their companies, cheated their stockholders and burned their employees make 400 times more than production workers. " have to do with WalMart ? If CEO's are doing something illegal, then they should be caught and prosecuted. And they ARE being caught under the Bush administration. You're not arguing " greed " , but class envy. Again....

" This isnt' Russia. Is this Russia ? This isn't Russia " - Ty Webb

[Bottomfeeder 244]

I know income taxes are illegal, but the distribution of wealth in this nation is skewed to the advantage of those who really don't have to work for a living. I believe all people are equal except for their wallets. Now, you can blame who you want, but the income tax does not go to welfare recipients. Rather, it goes to pay the interest of the national debt, or the bankers. Now that the national debt is out of bounds in relation to the tax receipts our nation will soon declare bankruptcy again and the dollar will tank causing an economic collapse that will dwarf the Great Depression, which was caused by banking failures too. The Great Depression brought about the social safety net known as social security, which has become just another income tax for government to spend on whatever. The surplus borrowed was supposed to be paid back into the system when Al Gore got into office in 2000. But, we all now what happened there.

http://www.lcurve.org/LCurveVideo.htm

Currency switches are likely to be progressive, subtle and discreet, as untoward attention could hit the dollar, lowering the value of depositors’ remaining dollar-denominated assets.

The last time oil-exporting countries cut their exposure to the dollar – in late 2003 – it pushed the euro to an all-time high against the dollar. Eighteen months ago, the exposure to the dollar of oil producing countries was above 70 per cent.

BIS data is the best guide financial markets have to the currency investment trends of oil producers, which otherwise do not provide figures. The rise in oil prices since 2002 means oil producing countries have amassed a current account surplus of about $500bn, according to the IMF. This is 2½ times the current account surplus of China.

Overall, Opec’s dollar deposits fell by $5.3bn, while euro and yen-denominated deposits rose $2.8bn and $3.8bn, respectively. Placements of dollars by Russians rose by $5bn, but most of their $16bn additional deposits were denominated in euros.

The dollar has suffered weakness because of concerns about global imbalances and the future course of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy.

I'd dump every stock valued in dollars and buy gold, or something to help survive the coming crash. The gig is up, we lose. Most of the wealthy have moved their assests completely out of the US's jurisdiction, as have most corporations by now.

Rogers: Sell U.S. dollar, buy real and yuan

The dollar has so far lost nearly 12 percent against the euro <EUR=> this year, around 14 percent against sterling <GBP=>, and roughly 9 percent versus the Swiss franc <CHF=>, as investors became concerned that U.S. economic growth was slowing and that the interest rate differential with Europe may narrow.

Investors expect the Federal Reserve may cut the fed funds rate, currently at 5.25 percent, next year, eroding the greenback's yield advantage over other major currencies.

The market's renewed focus on the widening U.S. current account deficit, a measure of the country's trade and investment flows, has also contributed to the dollar's <.DXY> recent decline, analysts say.

Oil producers shun dollar

Oil producing countries have reduced their exposure to the dollar to the lowest level in two years and shifted oil income into euros, yen and sterling, according to new data from the Bank for International Settlements.

The revelation in the latest BIS quarterly review, published on Monday, confirms market speculation about a move out of dollars and could put new pressure on the ailing US currency.

Market liquidity is traditionally low in December, and many traders have locked in profits, potentially reinforcing volatility.

Russia and the members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the oil cartel, cut their dollar holdings from 67 per cent in the first quarter to 65 per cent in the second.

Meanwhile, they increased their holdings of euros from 20 to 22 per cent, the BIS said. The speed of the shift may help to explain the weakness of the dollar, which recently fell to a 20-month low against the euro and a 14-year low against sterling.

The BIS, the central bank for the developed world’s central banks, is customarily cautious in its language. However, it noted: “While the data are not comprehensive, they do appear to indicate a modest shift over the quarter in the US dollar share of reporting banks’ liabilities to oil exporting countries.”

[AURaptor 1,125]

bf, you believe the holocaust was a hoax too, right?

[Bottomfeeder 244]

bf, you believe the holocaust was a hoax too, right?

No, I don't believe the Holocaust was a hoax. That's trecthing it a bit. Our problems could be solved with energy independence other than crude and nuking Iran along with Saudi and the rest of the Arab nations. Oh yea, and that hairdo %^er in North Korea. But, nukalar power hasn't been been upgraded in years, and it would take years to get where we need to be.

[GalensGhost 0]

Wal-Mart's Right-wing Agenda

Wal-Mart's Policy of Greed

I can't take anybody with a Barak Obama signature seriously. Sorry. The guy is a complete do-nothing. An empty suit paraded out there in a nauseating attempt to appeal to the base human emotions of racism and classism.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Wal-Mart's Right-wing Agenda

Wal-Mart's Policy of Greed

I can't take anybody with a Barak Obama signature seriously. Sorry. The guy is a complete do-nothing. An empty suit paraded out there in a nauseating attempt to appeal to the base human emotions of racism and classism.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[AURaptor 1,125]

Wal-Mart's Right-wing Agenda

Wal-Mart's Policy of Greed

I can't take anybody with a Barak Obama signature seriously. Sorry. The guy is a complete do-nothing. An empty suit paraded out there in a nauseating attempt to appeal to the base human emotions of racism and classism.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

A more thoughtful , mature individual might offer some positve reasons why Barack is a worthwhile candidate. Do you even KNOW anything about this guy, other than he's black and speaks well ?