tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162253.post8629206498334601046..comments2024-03-27T08:39:28.807-06:00Comments on Wash Park Prophet: Young Businesses Create (And Destroy) JobsAndrew Oh-Willekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02537151821869153861noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14162253.post-8241765376903869212010-10-01T12:47:50.889-06:002010-10-01T12:47:50.889-06:00At a time of extreme trade imabalance, exports sho...At a time of extreme trade imabalance, exports should be encouraged through tax incentives.<br /><br />Regarding the demise of department stores, I have a different take. Wal-Mart and Target are the new normal -- they are what department stores used to be. Department stores used to be full of housewares, electronics, toys, and tools. So, yes, the discount big boxes and the category-killer big boxes played roles, but lack of inter-department accountability did not. If anything, there was such department accountability because, for example, the department stores offed their toy departments once the discount big boxes became the new place to buy toys.<br /><br />Wal-Mart and Target are the new normal with mall department stores stuck with their now seemingly stratospheric prices. As Elizabeth Warren reports in her analysis, healthcare, housing, and education have been increasing at double-digit rates, but the price of everything else has been falling dramatically. In order to balance budgets, families need the cheap Chinese imports to compensate for rising prices in the other budget categories. Department stores never bothered to lower their prices and have been shut out as a result.<br /><br />Wal-Mart and Target, being the new normal, are thus no longer "discount". The discount stores today are Family Dollar (the one at 5th & Broadway is great -- it's laid out like a mini-Target) and second-hand stores like ARC and Goodwill.Michael Malakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10007582156392845677noreply@blogger.com