Walmart's CEO believes that the economy won't stay bad for as long as we thought

OK, initially you're very right. Alot of the job losses were because of gas prices. There was also rich corporations deciding to head for greener pastures in other countries, as well as bad policies/practices/greed killing alot of the bigger sorts of job markets. But the problem now, about unemployment is...it started a spiral downwards. Gas prices were indeed initially the cause, but now it's money that's the problem. Most people spent all of their "expendable income" already, which means that lower gas prices mayn't actually do much of anything for the job sector because people're afraid to spend ANYTHING. Which means less employees, which means less jobs, which means less money. A vicious circle indeed, a chain reaction of sorts. No quick fix, yes. I'm sure it will get better...sometime. Just how and when, no one really knows. It will help quite a few things, like law enforcement and the post office which were having hard times because of the high gas prices (although considering alot of local governments reporting that because of how little money they have, they're gonna cut services, I'm not sure what this exactly will mean in the end). It might help some kinds of food because the costs of the fuel to transport it will go down. But as coolseeds said, not all companies that work with providing us food won't lower their prices because now that they're paying less for gas, they'll be making more of a profit. The other upside is, gas prices have spurred a movement toward "local food" and small time farmers selling directly to the people. With gas prices somewhat lower, this will make this a slightly easier transition. Local food is naturally cheaper, and with no middle man between us and the farmers...that also helps quite a bit. The thing with this is, it's something like patchwork. Not all areas are seeing this movement, and not all areas CAN see this movement. Which makes food companies not wanting to lower prices, highly dismaying. As for the housing crisis...well, I think that's alot less complex than alot of people make it out to be. The whole problem was a combination of: bad and greedy policies/practices, people making stupid decisions, and people expecting that high priced houses would forever be a good market. The upside, as you touch on a bit, is that since the prices are now much lower...it is a buyer's market. Which is good news for the regular person...especially since alot of houses are being sold outright or traded -- no mortgages whatsoever! That's actually how we got this new house we're now in, we traded our old burnt out farm property for this farm house, so that we could stop renting in the city and have more breathing room. This whole bit is likely to end with a ton of houses with no one in them and no one wanting to buy them (which could mean several things for our society, though less things for our economy specifically)...and it'll mean more and more trouble for the banks. I'm HOPING that this will lead to more and more forgiveness and leniency to the regular person who's in trouble. ...so, I really hope you're right and that it won't last as long. But it's hard not to think alot of things are optimistic these days, isn't it?

Overall, I think you make alot of good points...but on minimum wage I have to point out that a ton of businesses can't afford to pay anything above minimum wage anymore. Even bigger corporations, businesses have sortof downgraded in this area. So it's a good idea, in that it'll encourage the greedier jerks to cough up the money people need, but on the other hand it kills teetering businesses. ...I don't usually view this as either a good or bad thing, because it's a bit of both. Overall, I think we need to stop relying on the economic system to get money...and those of us who can need to make our own businesses -- as people're now pointing out, alot of the most successful businesses today started during crises! ...the system is ill, therefore, to rely on it...is madness. As for inexperienced people getting the jobs over the more qualified people -- I have to point to stupid employers rather than this being a direct cause. INDIRECT, perhaps. But this is the employer not being a good boss, and being lazy like that (I'm referring to the employer here)...is another component to this monster that's been built. ...bottom line is, we need to understand how things work more...think more than two steps ahead, and not just think about ourselves. It's one thing to find yourself a good job, but if it does not benefit your area...it's possible that your good job won't last. It's why I'm going to be trying to start my own business by micro-farming. If I can sell cheap home-grown food to the people in my area, then they have a little more money, they'll probably be healthier as well...which will have some sort of positive impact on my area specifically. Whether that will be enough, I have no idea. But I figured food was pretty disaster-proof...and while no businessman is completely disinterested in profit, at least I hold raising prices to ridiculous levels in disdain. ...I need my customers to come back, afterall. Offering something you can hardly find anywhere else, is the only way to achieve that. Food's not the only area, a few others are getting creative as well...but with things as they are, I think that we all need to be doing alot of thought, research and get more creative. Whether that's starting your own business, or choosing how best you can model your life for the next few years. ...anyway, I've rambled on. You've got a lot of political savvy, coolseeds!

Notice how the food prices do not go down because of gas prices. Once you commit to paying higher prices... you do.

I think we all hope the optimistic outlook to be true. Fixing, of course, is easier said than done...of course, I believe that the best way to fix things, is to fix how we live and stop being so reliant on outside factors. Life's unfair? Well, if people're that upset then obviously they should work to be able to control their life more so that they can adjust the level of unfairness for themselves (and hopefully for those around them). Rely less on the success of others for their own success. I've read a few quotes from OPEC members, lately. Saying "Under $70 a barrel" is "unacceptable". Meanwhile, there's this bit about how natural gas producers are wanting to form an OPEC-esque type thing...which is, of course, MORE good news considering how OPEC's helped how screwed up things are with their mad quest for insane amounts of profit. This ain't time for complacency. War's probably a very good thing to be wary of, given the circumstances. Alot of really scared people are going, "Argh, watch, there will be a whole bunch of resource wars next" (ignoring alot of opinion about how Iraq WAS a funky sort of resource war and all that).

It is crowded because they forced all of the smaller local stores to close. Where do you shop where there is only a Super Wal-mart every 15 miles? The options are slim.

I don't really agree with that. Alot of those stores are more "high end" stores that did their own selves in with their greed. Walmart is actually helping businesses. Did you know that most of walmart isn't actually walmart? The general products in walmart like school supplies, and bath goods are all that walmart really has. The other areas of walmart are actually owned by other businesses that pay monthly rent to walmart stores. Like the photolab (fuji), the shoe dept, jewelry, pharmacy, also the little shops up front like the nail salon, hair salon, and the restaraunts that are in there like mcdonalds, taco bell, kfc.

Well I didn't say walmart wasn't corrupt. I can tell you things most people will never hear about. Serious corruption. False earnings reports, thefts that were setup by walmart itself to make money off losses. Then on the employee side, more work, less pay. Bonuses cut, pay raises cut, hours cut. Sam walton's kids have taken what was a really good company, and turned it into a beast. If sam walton were alive i'm sure he would be having a fit. So yeah there's good and bad. But i've worked for worse.

I'm mostly with you, Newt. It's hard to see when exactly this will end, so it's better to prepare for worst case scenario -- even if the optimism turns out to be right. And the worst case scenario is a long depression...so we need to read up on all those "back to basics" old fashioned skillz it looks like. If only to save money.