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A review by miriammim
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell
5.0
Ever wonder how we got here? Here being a huge discount culture that sends jobs oversees,degrades the environment, and has corporate retailers ruling the market place. Ellen Ruppel Shell doesn't have all the answers but she does a great job combining history, psychology, and economics together to provide a bit of insight on how we ended up with the marketplace we have - one much different than Adam Smith predicted. I appreciated that she doesn't demonize anyone nor does she promote conspiracy theories. There is no us or them - just us (but some of us do have more power on certain issues and are working to increase short term profit instead of long term well being).
If you're not sure you have time to read this (I listened to it as an audio book on my phone) then here are some key take-aways:
* Customers no longer know the cost of production - so we always think we should get it cheaper
* However, cheaper usually is cheap and not worth the bargin. E.I. 90% of products made for outlet stores are of inferior quality than those made for the dept stores.
* Discount retailers benefit more from the poor than the poor benefit from them (so they have no incentive to increase pay, support national healthcare or other reforms that would reduce poverty)
But really - if you've read this far you should just read the book.
If you're not sure you have time to read this (I listened to it as an audio book on my phone) then here are some key take-aways:
* Customers no longer know the cost of production - so we always think we should get it cheaper
* However, cheaper usually is cheap and not worth the bargin. E.I. 90% of products made for outlet stores are of inferior quality than those made for the dept stores.
* Discount retailers benefit more from the poor than the poor benefit from them (so they have no incentive to increase pay, support national healthcare or other reforms that would reduce poverty)
But really - if you've read this far you should just read the book.