I thought it would be fun to post about books you have read or listened to you have enjoyed. I down load books from Audible.com to my IPOD and would highly recommend the site as they have a huge selection of audio books.
I am presently listening to the Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman which is about ten hours of listening. The book starts with store number one to the year 2005 and how Wal-Mart has grown but the philosophy has stayed the same always the lowest prices at any cost. What I have found interesting is the purchasing power of Wal-Mart and basically forcing companies to move operations overseas and reduce the quality of their product or they can choose to quit selling to Wal-Mart. One of the companies the author profiles is Snapper Lawnmowers who chose to remove their product from Wal-Mart rather than cheapen their product. One of the ideas the book discusses is that as we are saving money on one hand, in the long run we will pay more in other ways such as what we are doing to the oceans to produce more farm raised salmon. There are also reports on what Wal-Mart does to cities it moves into by putting other businesses out of business and how far away the ripple effect is. Wal-Mart is becoming its own worst enemy though as it moves into the future with their philosophy. I am really enjoying this book and it sure is will make you look at Wal-Mart in a different way.