February 05, 2005

What a Crockpot Can Inspire

Mark Hasty thinks about Wal-Mart and its very microeconomic effects:

My point in all of this is that, while we certainly know that many things have grown unfathomably more expensive since 1976, there’s an awful lot of stuff which has grown cheaper, everyday stuff that we all take for granted. So when you’re shaking your fist at the big-box retailers, remember–without their clout, you’d probably have to spend $60 for a crockpot and $100 for a coffeemaker. Say what you will, the price for the trappings of a middle-class life is less than it used to be.

"We're All Wal-Mart People"