Originally Posted by
onehundred80
I think the greatest single enemy to the North American economy has been WalMart and those that shop there.
Many people shopping at WalMart can blame themselves for their own lost jobs.
For instance RubberMaid had a lock on plastic container sales there, but people did not want to pay and opted for cheaper Chinese containers. This resulted in the closure of RubberMaid plants, loss of jobs to mold makers and other suppliers. Thank you WalMart.
This is a global phenomenon. I remember going to a small grocery/general store in a small town in Italy. Almost everything they had, minus food, was made in China. This globalization is a problem for every country other than China and a few other developing countries but no one has a solution. Economists believe that the market will do what markets do: China will be replaced by other countries and as those countries develop they will not be able to make things cheap as their labor costs rise. We will see what happens with Trump. However, there is very little that is unknown about the end result of protectionism. Moreover, Trump voters will have a rude awakening when the prices at Walmart jumps 50%. As a person who makes a comfortable living, I have totally benefited from these ultra cheap things I buy on Amazon, et al, most of which aren't necessities for me, and if prices go up too much I'll just buy less of the more expensive stuff. Not everyone will have that option.