Jordan Witcher

SOCI-1301

1. Walmart was the first company to make a quarter of a trillion dollars. That
is how many billions?

That is $256 Billion.

2. Walmart figured out how to exploit what two powerful forces which
allowed them change the balance of power in the world of business. What
were they?

These two powerful sources are the information technology and the global
economy.
3. Previous to Wal-Mart, name one company that set the standard for the
world?

General Motors

4. How many shoppers go to Walmart every week?

100,000,000 shoppers go to Walmart a week.

5.

Do manufacturers of goods get to negotiate their price?

No, they do not get to negotiate.

6. How has Wal-Mart changed the relationship between manufacturer and

retailer?

It reversed a 100 year history where the manufacturer is powerful and the
retailer is the vassal.
7. Explain how Walmart put Rubbermaid out of business?

The materials needed to make the products Rubbermaid sold went up in

price. When Rubbermaid raised their prices for their retailers Walmart
refused the price increase. Walmart then dropped Rubbermaid products for
a number of years. This caused such a backlash that Rubbermaid eventually
was bought out by Newell in 1999.

8. How many jobs were lost in the United States due to Rubbermaid going out
of business?

Over 1,000 jobs were lost when Rubbermaid went out of business.

9. The Rubbermaid company was most admired ten years ago for
quality; today Walmart is most admired for cost cutting.
10. What country bought Rubbermaids machinery at auction?

China

11. What is the opening "price point?

The really low prices that Walmart showcases in their special displays

12. How does the opening price point work to lure shoppers to pay more for an
item?

After viewing the low price the shoppers get it in their heads that they
wont find a better price anywhere else and that maybe the brand of that
item they are looking for is cheaper there.
13. To crank up sales and profits, during the early 1990's Wal-Mart started
importing goods from where?
Walmart started to import good from Asia .

14. The margins of profit on goods from China are 60, 70, and 80 % while the
margins of profit on American made goods is more like 20 %.
15. Who tells American manufacturers to move overseas and why?
Walmart told manufacturers to move overseas because of lower costs. It will meet the
bottom line price figures.
16. Twenty years ago Shenzhen China was all rice fields.
17. How much do Chinese workers make an hour?

Chinese workers make about 50 cents an hour and some companies pay as
little as 25 cents to 30 cents an hour.
18. How much money have western investors put into China in the last 20
years?

They have put hundreds of billions of dollars into China in the last 20 years.

19. What percentage of goods sold at Walmart are made in China?

80 % of good at Walmart are made in China.

20. Manufacturers in China often bargain as low as 1 cent profit.

21. Who financially benefits from these low profit margins?

Walmart

22. Walmart and China are a joint-venture and are both determined to do
what with the American economy?

They are determined to dominate the US economy.

At the shipping port in Long Beach California:

23. How many millions of dollars do we import from China and what are two of
these products?

36,000,000,000 dollars, toys and clothing

24. How many millions of dollars do we export to China and what are two of
these products?

3,000,000,000 dollars , cotton and scrap metal

25. The host of this documentary noticed that the products that United States
exports to China is like 3rd World Country!
26. According to the economist Alan Tonelson, the trade agreement with China
only benefits China because why?

Because China can sell more goods to the United States and Americans
have the money to buy Chinese goods. But the Chinese cant do the same
for American goods.

*27. The economist Brink Lindsey, claims that globalization has not
contributed to American job loss but has only changed them; while the
economist Larry Mishel says globalization has contributed to much job loss and
that the bottom th of Americans are much worse off. Which one of these
economists do you agree with and why?

I agree with the first guy. Its not that we have lost jobs it America but its
just that we are more expensive then overseas and we have higher wages.
Factories overseas can do things so much cheaper that we cant afford
factories hear. When businesses started to unionize and work conditions
started to get better in America, those businesses had to go somewhere
cheaper. We are doing exactly what England did in the 1700s and pricing
ourselves out of the market.
28. How much did Steve Radcliff make as a machine operator at the Circleville
Ohio plant?

He made $59,000 a year plus overtime

29. Skip Hartquist, the attorney representing Five River Electronics, stated
that the Chinese have a rigged system for three reasons. What were they?

Currency is undervalued by 40%, workers are not treated fairly, and the
government provides subsidies to companies at interest rates that probably
wont have to be repaid.
30. Walmart sided with which counties workers in the Five Rivers lawsuit?

Chinas

31. What did the mayor in Circleville Ohio say about where the high school
kids will find work?

He said they would find work at the plants but those are gone now so he
doesnt know where they will work.
32. How much does Walmart pay their employees compared to a
manufacturing job including benefits?

Half of the 15 to 16 dollars they made with no benefits.

33. What did Professor of Economics, Nelson Lichtenstein, call the new model
of world capitalism that Wal-Mart has created?

Creative Destruction

34. What is the major problem with the focus only being on low prices?

It is undermining the ability for workers to make decent wages and benefits.
35. After watching this documentary, what do you think? Is Walmart good for
America?

I believe Walmart is good for America. They offer affordable supplies and
groceries for those who cant afford places with overly high prices like
Albertsons and Sears. They also employ those with very little retail
experience and those who dont necessarily have a decent education.
Walmart provides for the middle man the best they can.