The Great Leap Forward

Workers of the world unite. Do you suppose old Sam is turning in his grave to hear that a branch of the Chinese Communist Party has been established at the headquarters of Wal-Mart^® China? I doubt it.

Sam's ghost is smiling because yet another domino is dropping along the way to WalMart world domination, as they march forward hand-in-hand with their axis-of-commerce partner Starbucks Coffee^®, which is not far behind with plans for 4000 stores on the Mainland ... are there even 4000 street corners in China?

As for Chairman Mao's ghost, he is thanking his lucky [red] stars that the likes of Wal-Mart^® are keeping his legacy alive, though you don't see much of the old Chairman these days.

What do Chinese workers have that German workers do not? Pricing Power, due to a tight labor market these days. The average pay raise in China will range from 5% to 12% (versus 2.2% inflation rate) depending which province you are in, while the average raise in Germany will range from 2.5% to 3% (versus 2.6% inflation). Of course the Chinese are coming from behind when it comes to per capita income, nevertheless it really is becoming a worker's market in the Peoples' Republic these days.



Wal-Mart is a registered trademark of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a Delaware Corporation that fronts the intangible assets of this Bentonville, Arkansas juggernaut.

Starbucks Coffee is a registered trademark of Starbucks U.S. Brands LLC, a Nevada Limited Liability Company, which fronts the intangible assets of this Seattle based juggernaut. Did you know that they use the term "Starbucks" alone to refer to their retail line of music?

Der Auslader holds financial interests in both Wal-Mart and Starbucks and wholeheartedly encourages you to support his capitalist tool portfolio by giving them a sizeable chunk of your hard earned money this holiday season.

Inflation data presented herein comes from the International Monetary Fund. Wage data comes from various sources.