Wal-Mart used to sell us only goods made in America. Now they sell us goods primarily made in China. "Always Low Prices" they said. But now Wal-Mart has quantified their generosity, claiming to save each of us $2,500 per year. Those savings are really handy when you've lost your job, or if you actually draw a "generous" Wal-Mart wage.
Let's look at a few other statistics, after the jump.
FIRST, a salary comparison.
- The average annual salary of a Wal-Mart employee = $10,000. ($8.23 per hour times 24 hours actually worked, on average, per week). (These are 2005 numbers, but you can be generous and index them for theoretical, but probably non-existent wage gains for the last 2 years).
- The average per capita income for Americans = $42,000
- The Wal-Mart vs. U.S. wage differential is $32,000. BUT, you can buy more from Wal-Mart/China and save $2,500. And then you benefit from a net LOSS of $29,500.
SECOND, a trade deficit examination, courtesy of the Economic Policy Institute.
- Our 2006 trade deficit with China was an astounding record of $235 billion. Wal-Mart, a single company, caused an astounding 11% of that deficit with $27 billion in imports.
THIRD, a job loss examination, again courtesy of EPI.
- If we produce for export, jobs are created. But if we import goods previously produced here, jobs are lost.
- Our U.S. trade deficit caused a net loss of 2.7 million jobs in 2006. This is because 526,000 jobs were created because of exports, BUT nearly 3.3 million jobs were lost due to imports.
- The Wal-Mart deficit caused 196,000 net job loss in 2006. Wal-Mart is responsible for 11.2 percent of America's net trade-related job loss from 2001-2006. But those lucky unemployed folks saved $2,500 per year if they shopped at Wal-Mart.
So... I think I would rather have a good job and pay $2,500 extra. How about you?
Note: This diary was first posted on TradeReform.org.