October 5,
2004
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
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Wal-Mart's
Low Tech Innovations Responsible For Efficiency Gains, Rather Than
Massive Technology Investments
Conventional
wisdom and many respected economists cite the massive investment
in technology and telecommunications during the decade of the 1990s
as the cause of productivity’s rise.
But according
to William Lewis, author of The Power of Productivity,
which is based on the 12-years of research for the McKinsey Global
Institute, the efficiency gains we’ve seen recently owe much
more to the low-tech innovations of Wal-Mart.
Lewis says the
retailing powerhouse was the pioneer in the “big-box”
store model, as well as shaking up the cozy world of wholesaling
by setting up its own distribution centers. (Together these changes
can be credited with half of the 2.5% annual productivity growth
of 1995-99.)
The study also
pointed out that one thing matters above all else—competition.
And the argument is put forth that industrializing economies could
grow quickly, with the available inputs of labor and capital, if
they would just embrace competition and small government.
Other points
in the study:
- Capital inflows
are no guarantee of success, as the Asian financial crisis demonstrated.
In fact, foreign direct investment in local enterprises is more
helpful, since it intensifies competition and introduces global-best
practices. (But few governments can resist the pressure from domestic
businesses to shut out global competitors by means of regulatory
barriers.)
- Education
is not as critical as everyone seems to think. Case in point:
After Japanese car makers opened factories in the U.S., they were
able to achieve 95% of home-country productivity simply by doing
a better job of organizing the labor force.
Illegal immigrants have even less formal education, but they can
be brought up to American levels of productivity, too. The lesson
revealed is that on-the-job training is just as important as what
workers learned in school.
- Competition
is unlikely to flourish in poor countries until the scourge of
big government is brought under control. Lewis notes that governments
in Brazil, Russia, and India spend more than 30% of GDP, while
the U.S. and European countries, at a similar stage of development,
spent less than 10%. High tax rates lead to a large informal
(or underground) economy, which means than an even heavier burden
falls on legitimate businesses.
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From
Our Files...
Michael
Jordan Made Millions By "Trading" On His Popularity
Eight years
ago a memorable merchandising bonanza hit the market...it was based
on the live-action animated movie Space Jam, staring sports
icon Michael Jordan along with Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Porky
Pig, and other Looney Tune characters.
As a result,
over one billion dollars of Warner Brothers toys were sold. For
Jordan, who traded his “presence” in the movie for 10%
of the merchandise wholesale revenue, this translated into a $50
million payday!
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Barter
Fairs & Holiday Expo's. . .
October:
2nd Annual BXI San Diego Fall Trade Fair. Saturday, October 23 at
Party Pals, 10427 Roselle Street, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For directions
call (619) 472-2929.
November:
BXI Ventura-Santa Barbara & BXI West Valley Holiday Trade Fair.
Sunday, November 7 at the Oxnard Courtyard by Marriott, 600 East
Esplanade Drive, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call
(804) 376-9466 or (818) 758-2929.
December:
TradeAmericanCard 2004 Barter & Business Expo. Sunday, December
12 at The Grove of Anaheim, 2200 E. Katella Avenue, from 3 p.m.
to 9 p.m. For more information call (714) 532-1610.
(Barter
companies: Send your holiday trade fair information to: bmeyer@barternews.com.)
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Here
& There...
- Bill Gross,
manager of Pimco Total Return, the nation’s largest bond
fund based in Newport Beach (CA), told the Financial Times
in August that the global economy is uncertain. “Too much
debt, geopolitical risk, and several bubbles have created a very
unstable environment, which can turn any minute. More than any
point in the past 20 or 30 years, there’s potential for
a reversal.”
Among his concerns
were consumer and government debt and a bubble in commodity
prices. Gross said the U.S. dollar is overvalued by 20%, propped
up by an inflow of foreign capital.
-
A new kind of residential
development, called “forest reserve” communities,
is taking place in the U.S. It’s being carved out of former
industrial timberlands around major cities of the Pacific Northwest
and Florida’s Panhandle.
Twenty-acre forested
lots are being sold by timber giants like the Weyerhaeuser Co.
Buyers can build their dream home on the land, and then manage
the property in the surrounding woods as a small tree farm.
(Owners are free to leave the property untouched or to cut down
trees to sell them.)
The timber companies
say selling their land in this manner (at prices of $140,000
to $250,000 per lot) is faster then going through the lengthy
process of gaining regulatory permits for a traditional development.
-
The newest edition
of Franchise Opportunities Guide, from the International
Franchise Association, lists more than 900 franchises. The Washington,
DC-based, trade group represents companies in 75 different industries
in more than 100 countries. Franchises in the U.S. have revenues
of $1.15 trillion and 14 million employees. The guide costs
$23 and is available at www.franchise.org or call (800) 543-1038.
-
The number of credit-card
solicitations in the U.S. grew to 4.29 billion in 2003 from
1.52 billion a decade earlier, according to Chicago research-firm
Synovate. And Federal Reserve data revealed revolving consumer
debt last year was at more than $734.1 billion, compared with
$238.6 billion in 1990.
- For
the past 25 years China’s economy has grown an average of
9.4% annually, making it the world’s sixth-largest economy.
Over the same period, per capita income—both in cities and
rural areas—has multiplied more than five times. And the
average wage has doubled in just the last ten years. Because of
this fast economic growth, China has lifted 400 million people
out of absolute poverty since 1981.
- Have
you signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the
Tuesday Report every week? If not, go to the top of this
issue (right hand corner) and sign up!
- Cast-off
electronic equipment totaled 1.5 billion pounds in 2002, five
times the amount recycled in 1998, reported the International
Association of Electronics Recyclers.
- If
Sam Walton were alive today and had not dispersed shares to descendants,
his stake in Wal-Mart stock would be worth over $100 billion!
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