WalMart: "Unsold Merchandise Piling Up"

As we continue the slow motion train-wreck known as the US debt ceiling debate (which popped up mysteriously in the night - giv'em hell boys), we have news out of America's discount king, Wal-Mart, that they have a problem.  According to Bloomberg news, merchandise is piling up.

"U.S. inventory growth at Wal-Mart outstripped sales gains in the second quarter at a faster rate than at the retailer’s biggest rivals.Merchandise has been piling up because consumers have been spending less freely than Wal-Mart projected."


This is not a new development.  Indeed, a Wal-Mart memo in February cause a large stir when it was leaked because as the memo noted, "In case you haven't seen a sales report these days, February (month-to-date) sales are a total disaster," Jerry Murray, a Wal-Mart vice president who works on finance in the U.S. logistics division, said in a Feb. 12 email to other executives, Bloomberg reported. "The worst start to a month I have seen in my (about) 7 years with the company." 

Wal-Mart is a good macro indicator of our economic health because they have a national presence and a global supply chain.  When Wal-Mart slows down it means America the spender is slowing down.  With the American citizen as the global engine of consumption this means that as the American goes so goes the world.

There are likely 3 or 4 factors directly driving this (the least of which actually may be Obamacare) that we can look to for direction.

1) The fastest growing segment of our economy are waiters and bartenders.  So if that factory job you used to work was shipped to Mexico or China (such as C&D Technology of Milwaukee) it seems unlikely you have greater spending power and this translates into lower discretionary spending.

2) Inflation, especially in food and energy, is destroying the purchasing power of our poor and middle class.  This means there is less "discretionary" money to buy that new TV or CD, there will be fewer video games and music sold, and worst of all, Johnnie may not get that new bike.

3) Complexity and regulation, how easy or difficult our economy is to navigate, is choking the system.  The factory job is gone, feeding your family is tough, and the idea of starting ones own business has been crushed by regulation, taxation, and market interference.  When government needs to create entire agencies to help people open a business and understand the regulatory process, things have gone too far.

Each of these factors detract from economic progress.  Each stands in the way of self determination.  Each stands as an attack on a free society.

I'm sure the Red and Blue Teams can pass some new venture capital fund for home grown businesses raising lamas and everything will come up green shoots for Wal-Mart.  In the mean-time the creativity of our poor to feed themselves will need to escalate substantially, because whether you like it or not, more budget cuts are coming.

Join us:

Libertarian Party Pierce St Croix Presents
Road Signs- Our Political Economy
With Opening Comments by Karen Hale 
Featured Speaker: Brian Huffman, Professor of Management
University of Wisconsin - River Falls
College of Business and Economics
September 29th, 2013Kilkarney Hills Golf Club in River FallsCoffee and Dessert Social 6 PM Presentations to begin at 6:30 PM
Click here to view video about the event. (90 Seconds)
Students of any grade will enjoy free admission  Students are asked to visit the ticket site to register for the event as well to aid pending attendance count
Click Here to Purchase Tickets
10% of Profits to be Donated to an Alysa Ivy Memorial
The party is also inviting any organization within the Pierce St Croix region who wishes to co-sponsor the event to contact us.  The only requirement is that the organization support freedom and liberty as one of the ways to achieve greater success in their endeavors.  If your organization is unsure, or would like to hear more about Libertarian principles, please contact the Chair, Robert Burke at PSCLibertyValley@GMail.com.
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Tickets may also be purchased from members of the party.Robert Burke, Chair
Libertarian Party Pierce-St Croix
Liberty Valley WI