December 01, 2013
The NYT had an interesting piece on the extent to which companies are shifting production to the United States in response to desires by consumers to buy American made products. At one point the piece tells readers;
“Americans spend more than $340 billion a year on clothes and shoes, more than double what they spend on new cars, according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association.”
Actually, the Commerce Department reported that consumers spent more than $230 billion last year on new autos, which is considerably more than half of the $340 billion figure noted here. This does not count autos purchased by businesses or used car purchases.
The piece also notes a plan by Walmart to increase its sales of American made goods by $50 billion over the next decade. It is not clear whether this refers to an annual sales target or a total over the decade. Walmart’s annual sales are currently just $450 billion. If they grow in step with the economy they should be over $700 billion in ten years. This would imply an annual target of $50 billion in addition sales would mean roughly 7 percent of sales. On the other hand, $50 billion over the next decade as a cumulative goal would be considerably less than 1.0 percent of total sales.
Comments