By: Ish Theilheimer, Publisher, Straight Goods
Shelf respect is hard to find. If reports of impending bad economic times get you thinking of stocking up on groceries, you might be interested to know how those goods get put on store shelves. Correspondent Carole Pearson says the bigs in the grocery trade pay enormous fees that might sound like bribes but are known to the trade as slotting fees to get retailers to put their products on store shelves. Upstart companies that might have better products or prices don't get onto the shelves unless they can afford the enormous fees the supermarket chains charge. Guess who pays in the end for these fees: consumers.
It seems someone's stolen our lives. A friend of mine grew up in a suburban house in a family of six plus a granny, all living on the wages of one 40-hour a week, middle-income daddy. They had one car, one TV, walked, biked and took public transit everywhere. Today that house is divvied into three apartments, the yard is paved, and six cars sit in the yard to serve the three couples living there. And nearly everyone there probably works more than 40 hours a week. Does anyone remember the 1965 World's Fair with GM's Futurama exhibit, predicting a leisure lifestyle but about 2001? Who stole our lives? The Right would say it was intrusive government and high taxes. The Left says it was cut-throat capitalism. What do you think? Who stole our lives?
It does look like a good time to stock up. There is a tidal wave of economic bad news breaking all over around the world, stock markets are reeling, and people are beginning to lose their jobs in big bunches, like back in '82 or '90. Remember a year ago? If you went to a "financial adviser" at the local bank or credit union - as we did - you'd be told the markets were on a 10-year roll and you could, literally, bet the farm on it. They pulled out graphs showing how money invested in the stock market had grown over 30 years. Are we ever glad we didn't listen! (Putting our money into the Internet, on the other hand, might not have been the smartest thing, however!)
Where are the sound fundamentals now? A year ago the experts talked about the endless boom. Well-paid economists predicted nothing but blue skies for decades to come. Remember "sound fundamentals" that would carry the Canadian economy no matter what happened elsewhere? You don't hear much of that talk these days. With the over-inflated, fragile world economy partying on as if it was Titanic's maiden run, exactly which warning signs did they miss? Now everyone sees them: High-tech melt-down. Consumers awash in debt. The return of market speculation based on margin buying. Undeniable signs of global warming. Human and animal epidemics infecting whole continents. Farmers who can't afford to farm. Straight Goods thinks this is a really good time to invest in things that are useful and solid. We'd appreciate suggestions as to just what these might be.
Dummy's Guide to Quebec City Protest. It appears a lot of Canadians are planning to take an April weekend (20-22) in Quebec City to enjoy festivities surrounding the Summit of the Americas. That's where international government and corporate types will meet to try to hammer out a new trade deal - the Free Trade Area of the Americas - which critics say will solidify corporate control - and shut out democratic accountability - in every aspect of our lives, communities and government. With all the different groups converging, the shortage of accommodation, and the general confusion about what's happening, Straight Goods felt it would be a public service to put together a Dummy's Guide to Quebec City Protest so Canadians to who's doing what where and how to get involved. We'll keep the Darryl Leroux's article on our site throughout the month and will update as we get info from info sources. Enjoy democracy at work! It isn't easy and never has been.
The Straight Goods Report is a new weekly column being distributed to newspapers, web 'zines and portals, and radio stations all over Canada. You need not ask permission to reproduce it in your print or web publication, but please include our URL and let us know where you are posting it.
- Ish Theilheimer
- Killaloe, Ontario
- March 19, 2001
- ish@straightgoods.com
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