I was able to preview the new RPA & United Nations of Sound album a week before its (supposed) United States release. Here is my review, as a big fan of Richard Ashcroft. I reviewed the album in my moleskine tonight on the metro ride home. I took this picture on my blackberry and thought it would be an appropriate image for the review. Let me know if you have any questions.
1. Are you Ready?
The main piece of the album which wasn’t really for sale early, but you could listen to it on Ashcroft’s page. This song has old-school Verve tendencies, great orchestral tones, and is probably the centerpiece of the album. Unlike previous RPA releases (I’m thinking about Forth), there are other good songs than this one. Forth only had one good song — Love is Noise, and that’s generous to call it “good.” This song is a must have.
2. Born Again
Kind of a new vibe for RPA, and an average song. A little too new-age for me, and it had too many religious references, not consistent of the Ashcroft doom and gloom.
3. America
One might think that the title would make the song appealing. You’d be wrong to think that. This song is repetitive, and part of a new thing RPA is pulling that has some sort of an R&B vibe. If you are looking to buy songs on iTunes, don’t buy this one. Columbus Circle (Third Eye) which RPA & UNOS released, is not on this album. They should have kept America off of it and put in “Third Eye.”
4. This Thing Called Life
I liked part of the orchestral tones of the song, but it was tied into some weird soft-rock background that should be on some MTV show or on Lifetime. Not a horrible song overall, but not one of the album’s best.
5. Beatitudes
Absolutely the worst song of the album. It’s repetitive and unoriginal. Maybe the woman who mispronounces beatitudes as “beetitudes” is doing it to be funny, but the song outright sucks.
6. Good Lovin’
This song has a background that ties closely to some soul songs, and the orchestral parts are nice. Crisp singing, but not RPA’s best work.
7. How Deep is Your Man?
This is one of the weirdest titles on the album., hands down. It sounds like the background was ripped off of Snoop’s “my medicine” and is way too repetitive to tolerate. Not a good song.
8. She Brings Me the Music
This song is pretty stellar for the album. It starts with a good piano intro, has some great guitar riffs for background, and reminds me of what was in most of the good songs the Verve released. About 2:00 into the song, the orchestra sneaks in from its cigarette break and provides a very nice ending. Another essential song if you’re sniping the good ones from iTunes.
9. Royal Highness
Nothing too special about this song, but it does have a lot of the strings you’d expect from RPA. Has the strange movie-esque new age kind of sound to it, so it’s not for everyone and similar to “This Thing Called Life.”
10. Glory
Another song I really like (that puts it at what, three?) Opens with an acoustic similar to Sonnet from the Verve, but quickly brings in the violins. Not repetitive at all, it’s a grand song.
11. Life Can Be So Beautiful
Not a big fan of this one. Sounds too much like rap and doesn’t seem to fit for RPA, though I understand this is a new venture for him. There isn’t a clear narrative in the lyrics, and has a lot of whispered deep voices in the background like a 1970′s love ballad and the other vocalist makes some really odd hacking noises. Avoid this one.
12. Let My Soul Rest
At least the album closes on a good note. This one has a great background performance by the orchestra to open with few lyrics. Let My Soul Rest is more indicative of RPA’s singles work, rather than the Verve, but seems to be a good mix of the two. Another must have for the album.
Overall, I recommend the album as a whole. I think fans of RPA and The Verve would enjoy it, but if you can pick and choose what songs you like, by all means do so.
Well, this album debuted today in the UK and other English speaking countries — just not here. I am getting conflicting reports that it’ll be available tomorrow, and Amazon.com new informs me that it will be available within 8 days. We’ll see in about 6 minutes whether it debuts here tomorrow… Well, I couldn’t wait, so I bought the album from a vendor in Australia (thanks globalization + internet!). The last time I waited for an Ashcroft song to be released in the United States that I really wanted — it never happened. I had to buy the extended version of Bittersweet Symphony off Amazon 13 years after the fact. I just got sick of waiting. Maybe it’ll come out on iTunes or be available in stores, maybe it won’t. All I know is that I am going to get a copy of it.
On the way back, Mary and I endured traffic both leading into and out of the famed town of Breezewood, Pennsylvania, a town more dependent on government decisions than Cleveland or Detroit. It was painful. Part of it was some ass-clown who flipped his semi after getting off of I-76. I usually do not patronize Pennsylvania any more than I have to, but Mary and I decided to try the new “Doublicious” at the Breezewood KFC, quite possibly one of the worst in the nation. As a YUM! shareholder, I worry that their quality control is akin to Wendy’s which doesn’t bode well for their brands, if you ask me, but I digress. Long John Silvers has unfortunately suffered because of it, and I love their food. My sandwich was OK, but Mary’s was lacking, and it showed in her dismal ratings of the restaurant on the $1,000 contest, which nobody I know has ever won. At SLU, I loved getting the original sandwich with American cheese and potato wedges. Not sure why they got rid of such a good thing.
Went to work on Monday, had a late night and avoided the rain storm by way of the Capitol. Provided a good opportunity for a picture of the mall from outside the Dole balcony.
I got back to find that my Condo building was again evacuated for a false alarm — thanks Kettler! Glad to know that the Fire Department at least shows up. Tax dollars well spent, except I am quite sure they are fining our condo building. I thought, erroneously, that the letter in my mailbox from Fairfax County’s Watershed Project Evaluation Branch was about the recent water main break we had. I was wrong. Turns out that FEMA is not going to recertify our building for the purposes of exemption from federally mandated flood insurance for government-backed loans. Thankfully, the unit my sister and I occupy was never part of a mortgage backed by the geniuses at our GSEs Fannie and Freddie, or by the Federal Housing Administration. We may be off the hook, so to speak, but the rest of the building will now have to buy federal flood insurance. We’re looking into it whether now that our unit is owned free and clear whether we have to buy the flood insurance.
I understand the point of flood insurance, but I have scruples about the government mandating insurance of any kind, and disagree with the Bush administration about flood insurance. Especially when most floods in the Huntington area are likely caused by expansion of the I-495 Beltway / Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Eat your heart out, I say, to fellow conservatives fighting HCR with regard to the commerce clause. Just try and make sure we get some relief, too with regards to flood insurance. The Army Corps of Engineers puts us in the “1% annual chance flood plain (100-year floodplain) and are at risk of flooding again in the future.” Call me crazy, but forcing all of us to purchase insurance to insure against a 1% annual chance of flooding is bullshit. Court challenges, to some degree, have failed to prove that flooding was not due to nature. The timing is a bit suspect to me, as well. More on this as the situation progresses.
I love my banking institutions. So, let me tell you a bit about each of them. If you’re looking for a good bank in the D.C. area, let me know.
The first is ING. Co-workers and friends really liked their service, I invest through their Sharebuilder arm, and have checking, savings, and an IRA with them. To deposit money, you pretty much have to have a local account you can use to make deposits. You get free withdrawals at 7/11s, which are all around D.C. They are an online bank, so no branches. Their online site is excellent.
The second is the United States Senate Federal Credit Union. This is the credit union I joined through work. Each credit union has different membership standards, but this one is great because their ATMs are all around work, they have a branch there, and their home office is on Eisenhower Avenue, literally 3 minutes away from my condo. If you don’t know of a credit union near you, check out the credit union finder. Most other credit unions’ ATMs are free for withdrawal. USSFCU’s online site is well above average.
Third is Burke & Herbert Bank and Trust. Based in Alexandria, this is Virginia’s oldest bank. They have locations all throughout Old-Town and Northern Virginia. Their online site is average, but their customer service is unparalleled and their mailed statements are immaculate.
I highly recommend all of these institutions, but also suggest that you take the time to learn about financial institutions in your area and determine which one is best for you.
It takes someone from Cleveland to understand a guy like Harvey Pekar. If you’ve never heard of the guy, I’d encourage you to take a minute to learn about his life. In the interim, I will be in Cleveland this weekend (how appropriate) and will go to White Castle in his honor. Maybe even try and buy an original American Splendor comic — I already have a shirt and the movie. Great flick.
As you saw in previous posts, I had trouble getting Maani to get me the parts in a timely manner, so I ordered them myself, which created a side-show saga with me, GE, and ultimately my condo’s management company.
Maani installed the part, so we thought. After two loads, part of my condo had water leaking out of the machine and onto the carpet. We dried it, waited a day, and did one more load. Same thing, but we caught the water before it leaked.
Maani returned, and said that he’d have to break either the front of the washer or the bottom water collection tub to get in. I said forget it. I called GE’s official repair service, which I did not know about. I wish I did, it would have saved a lot of trouble.
Vinny came out today, and found that Maani did not install the lock plate properly, and it was not resting in the special niche that caused the tub to be lifted properly to wash. The tub was lower than it should have been, and totally destroyed the part that seals the tub from the rest of the machine, and that is why water started leaking everywhere when it normally would not have.
The GE service comes with a 5-year warranty on the part, and 30 days on labor. I watched him fix it, and he clearly did a better job than Maani did. While Maani was very nice, he did a poor job and ended up making things worse. I’m in the process of asking for our $139 back. If that doesn’t happen, he can expect a fury of bad ratings from me — starting here.
Today, after our very close game in softball, I came to realize that my increased time on the “mean streets” of the District Columbia have brought back the anger I lacked when taking Metro. Oh, who am I kidding, that anger was always present. Well, better said, it brought back the angers of driving I so sorely missed.
Morbidly obese people taking their dear sweet time crossing a sidewalk during a green light. Local youth moving as a mass in the middle of the street, mocking what are normally accommodating drivers. Then, there’s always Maryland. Maryland is chock full of absolutely shitty drivers. Test my theory. If you see someone pull an asshole maneuver, odds are, they are from Maryland. D.C. drivers are different, probably because they are a bit more transient than crab cake eaters. D.C. has its share of shitty drivers, especially the cab drivers who learned to drive in their native land, but it’s a mixed bag. I won’t exempt Virginia, but on the whole, I think we’re the best drivers in the D.C. metro area.
What I am really getting tired of are inconsiderate bicyclists. I know that a few of my friends ride the bike here in D.C., so this is not directed at you. I realize that car operators tend to respect bicyclists less than bicyclist respect car operators. This is for two reasons. Sheer differences in numbers, and bicyclists are usually mindful and stay out of the way of cars because they realize that cars are deadly, while bicycles typically aren’t.
Similarly, most accidents are the fault of car drivers, but I’m not in the camp where they represent 100% of them. Bicyclists can be careless or idiots, too. One time, I noticed a friend from SLU, Nick Crowe, cycling through Columbus circle in a Cardinals hat. It made me happy to see him, I said hello, and he went on his way to work. Either during that incident, or the following day, I saw a cyclist avoid plowing into a big jolly guy trying to cross Massachusetts Avenue. The pedestrian was wrong and should have yielded. They still collided, and it may have given the guy pause. At least I hope it did.
On a somewhat-related note, I absolutely hate the “critical mass” events. I understand the point of awareness, but there’s no quicker way than arbitrarily creating a traffic jam to make enemies out of motorists. Bicycle advocates often relish these demonstrations, but it’s horrible public relations. You certainly always make more enemies than friends.
Back to the game. Driving through East Potomac Park, I came to a stop sign to turn left near the golf course to get on 395 South. Traffic is one way coming from Hain’s point in the opposite direction. They, too, have a stop sign. It’s a three-way stop. I get there first, and am about to make the turn, and some bicyclist zips through the intersection, turning right and cutting me off. By the time I had initially come to a complete stop, he was 35 feet behind his sign and had no intention of stopping. To make matters worse, he gave off the most flamboyant of hand signals the following five minutes I was behind him. That didn’t help. If he hit a bump and fell off his bike I would have laughed maniacally the way anyone would when karma strikes. It’s a chameleon though, so it didn’t happen this time.
I started fuming, operating under the assumption that “share the road” means that the laws of driving things on public roads apply to you, too. I checked it out, and in D.C., that is the law.
If I had proceeded and turned my car without hesitating and that guy’s bike (probably worth more than my car) collided with my car, I would have felt horrible if that happened. But because I had the right of way, the law favors me and I would have been legally exonerated, but probably vilified by some in the nonsensical bicycle apologist crowd who think you can do no wrong on two wheels.
My conclusion? Pedestrians and car drivers: share the road and respect bicyclists. That is, of course, unless they’re 14 and driving a BMX the wrong way down the street intentionally to be an asshole. This happened to me once in Anacostia Park after a softball game two years ago. It’s OK to call them out on it in that case. Or, if it’s a seasoned cyclist who thinks he/she is above the law, let them know. Courtesy begets courtesy, and bad driving begets middle fingers, a loud honk of the horn, or a stream of obscenities. I can support doing all three. Cyclists, the law applies to you, too. Obey traffic laws, because if you don’t, it’s on you — just like violations of traffic law apply to drivers of cars.
Cleveland is a town known for its loyalty. In the 1990s, we were noted for our loyalty to our football team, the Browns. More recently, we were loyal to LeBron James, the self-dubbed “King” our championship-bereft city. Over the past few decades, we were loyal to our breadwinner: steel.
There is a connection between LeBron James leaving and the decline of the steel industry in Cleveland. Whereby LeBron left us because we couldn’t facilitate a city that his buddies Wade and Bush would come to, Cleveland similarly experienced the exodus of the steel industry because we couldn’t make our city a place where that industry could compete at a national and international level.
Unlike many of my fellow Clevelanders, including the owner of the Cavaliers Dan Gilbert, I never made the argument that Cleveland deserved or had a special claim to LeBron. Like a business or any individual, he can leave Cleveland for any reason, just like I did. (My gripe was how he shamed his home region on national television.) Economic actors, be they companies or people, can move freely for a variety of reasons. If for some reason, their growth or success is impeded by local constraints, they can move. Individuals like Rush Limbaugh and other relatively wealthy individuals can leave New York if that state “soaks the rich” with higher taxes. Similarly, companies can leave California if their climate becomes an impediment to their future success.
Therein lies the secret to why Cleveland is regarded by many as a dying city. Our denizens wrongly thought Cleveland deserved LeBron, just like they deserved a portion of the world’s steel industry. In a market economy, either domestically or internationally, you don’t deserve anything — you have to earn it.
In the 1960′s, 1970′s, and even during President George W. Bush’s tenure in 2002, the U.S. either slapped import quotas or tariffs on steel from other countries. All of these actions were economic malarkey that ultimately harmed Cleveland, Ohio, and the United States as a whole.
For one, much of the information that allegedly justified either import quotas or tariffs was based on the reports provided by domestic companies. In many cases, the government does not do its own detailed research as to whether or not their foreign competition were really “dumping” products on our market below cost. Supposedly, domestic producers would have us believe that the foreign competition would run our industries out of business and later raise prices once they’ve achieved a monopoly.
Aside from the fact the fact that steel is made throughout the world in countries like Japan, China, Russia, Trinidad/Tobago, Venezuela, Mexico, and Brazil — the fact that most of the data that the International Trade Commission uses is often provided from the domestic industry seeking so-called “protection” makes this a total ruse.
How can the government possibly ascertain what the cost differentials are for a foreign steel company that might have weak domestic demand in their home country, where costs are higher for smaller orders, versus international demand where costs are lower as a function of economies of scale? The unfortunate fact is that our government, along with other governments, have not done their due diligence to determine whether prices for steel were/are “below cost” or just lower due to economies of scale and larger aggregate demand in foreign markets like ours.
Well, from the late 1960s to present, American steel producers have gotten their wishes fulfilled — protection. Well, what happened?
Regardless of political action, employment in domestic steel production declined from 521,000 in 1974 to 151,000 in 2000. As Cleveland natives know all too well, steel companies went under right and left.
Why couldn’t protectionism save Cleveland? Well, even after import quotas and tariffs, foreign steel was still more affordable than steel made in Cleveland and other parts of the United States. Cleveland could not compete.
Sadly, Cleveland’s protectionist nature reared its ugly head, and the failed attempts to keep our steel industry limping along had other repercussions. In 2002, when President Bush made the poor decision to levy such tariffs, The Wall Street Journal noted:
New steel tariffs would cost about eight American jobs for every one steel job protected, according to a study last year by economists Joseph Francois and Laura Baughman of Trade Partnership Worldwide.
…
Some of the biggest losers would be the steel-belt states that tariffs are supposed to help. Illinois would lose ?ve jobs for every one protected, Ohio three for every one and Pennsylvania and Indiana two for one. New tariffs would even hurt parts of the steel industry itself, and thus some steel-workers, too. AK Steel of Middletown, Ohio, has invested more than $1 billion to use imported steel slabs and now employs 11,600; what would Mr. Bush tell them? And all of that damage is before any foreign nation decides to retaliate against U.S. exports, as they probably will.
The Bush proposal would protect between 4,375 steel jobs and 8,900 steel jobs at a cost to American consumers every year of $439,485 to $451,509 per steel job protected.
Higher prices and other inefficiencies imposed by the Bush administration’s actions would increase costs between $1.9 billion and $4.0 billion a year on consumers, and decrease U.S. national income by $500 million to $1.4 billion a year.
Steel-consuming industries would face greater competition from foreign manufacturers, as foreign manufacturers would have access to more competitively-priced steel inputs than U.S. steel users. The tariffs imposed on steel imports would raise the price of these inputs for U.S. steel-using manufacturers but would not raise prices for foreign manufacturers of steel-containing products. As a result, imports of finished steel products, like electric motors, construction materials, appliances and autos, would increase.
Throughout the 1990s, over 30 U.S. Steel companies went bankrupt. “Legacy costs,” which are the inflated costs incurred by industries for their retirees in industries that are heavily unionized were bogging down steel producers. GM and Chrysler experienced a similar fate, having legacy costs significantly add to the price of their products, which in turn, made them less competitive.
Even after decades of political stunts to protect American steel, in the end the market determined which entities won and lost. No thanks to our government. And, to make things worse, the quotas and tariffs harmed our economy, with little to show and net job losses.
A 1984 Federal Trade Commission study estimated that steel quotas cost the U.S. economy $25 for each additional dollar of profit of American steel producers. A negative multiplying effect of $1 : 25!
Also intriguing to point out is that, on average, the U.S. steel industry supplied no less than 70% of U.S. steel during the period of 1990-2001.
Back to LeBron. He left Cleveland because we could not facilitate a team that could win championships. As the Plain Dealer pointed out, winning regular season games doesn’t amount to squat if you cannot win in the playoffs. In a similar vein, it does not matter how much of the steel you supply at any given point if you cannot compete with other economic actors, as evidenced by the increase in imported steel depicted above. If you lose that competitive edge, your competition will gain market share, and it is up to you to cover that ground.
In my earlier post on the fallacy of buying local, I questioned why anyone would intentionally make himself poorer to keep an inefficient economic actor in business. This applies here also. But, in this instance, the government stepped in and prevented consumers from choosing whether or not to buy locally made steel. The imposition of import quotas and tariffs is a direct affront to the right of consumers to make their own decisions about from whom to purchase components. I realize that the “right” I speak of is not codified in law, but it should be.
An example of why import quotas and tariffs are unjust. There are two gas stations across the street from one another corner.
One is a locally-owned filling station that is not part of a major chain. It charges $3.00 per gallon and all of its components, like ethanol, are made in the United States. Let’s call this station “LTZ Gas.”
But, across the street is another gas station that gets its gas from abroad, does not have the government-mandated ethanol (Just let me dream) and is $2.25 per gallon. This gas station is called “Gas Importers.”
If you were in need of gas, which station would you choose? Certainly, most would pick Gas Importers because their price is lower. The imposition of import quotas and tariffs is like a police officer parked at the intersection who pulls you over before you make your choice. If you choose “LTZ Gas” the officer lets you pass. But, in an effort to be “fair” he informs you that the law will only let you buy one gallon of gas at “Gas Importers” at the lower price and then you will pay a .75 cent per gallon tariff on each additional gallon you purchase, just so LTZ won’t go out of business because their component inputs and cost of labor are higher.
Is that fair? No. But this is what happens, with tariffs and import quotas and American business are hurt by it. Consumers are forced by government decree to either buy from LTZ or pay artificially higher prices on gas from Gas Importers. Obviously, if the consumer’s business is dependent on gas, like a pizza delivery guy, he becomes less competitive because his cost of doing business goes up through higher prices, and that cost gets passed along to you in the form of more expensive pizza. As a result, the pizza delivery guy is routinely stiffed on tips, and is ultimately poorer. All because LTZ could not compete with Gas Importers.
To jump back in to steel briefly, the 2002 tariffs were estimated to raises prices on U.S. consumers between $2 and $4 billion, decreasing national income between $500 million and $1.4 billion.
Just like gas prices fluctuate, so do steel prices. What tends not to fluctuate as much, however, are the costs of labor and taxes. This is why some producers in other countries will have a comparative advantage in steel production. But, as we all know, comparative advantage isn’t just limited to countries. Some states have a comparative advantage over Ohio, which is why we lost a lot of tire manufacturing to southern states like Georgia.
Back to steel, the tariffs President George W. Bush imposed allegedly would protect between 4,375 and 8,900 jobs — at the expense of an estimated 35,000 to 71,200 jobs. Now, if you were one of those 35,000+ workers who lost their jobs, you might not realize the connection between tariffs or import quotas and why you lost your job. Similarly, you might not realize that because of these protectionist actions, your golf clubs, new car, or house now costs more. Sadly, President Obama is headed down the same road, but at a faster pace.
What it boils down to is thievery, thus the title of this post. Forcing consumers to pay higher prices is akin to the direct taking of your wealth, depriving you of the decision to buy items at lower prices or forcing you to pay a tax to equalize competition between two unequal competitors.
Everyone reads with shame the stories of progressive communities structuring soccer games where nobody loses. It’s pathetic, I know. But on a smaller scale, forcing St. Dominic’s to accept a goal for every goal they score on Gesu is no different than taxing the products of more efficient economic actors to make things “fair” for the poor souls at Gesu who suck at soccer.
I commented on the Cleveland.com article about “buying local.” It should be no surprise that advocates of “buy local” would also support these tariffs. Heck, if they had it their way, you’d be forced to “buy local” which is often the effect of tariffs and import quotas. One commenter decried imports and said “import buying will lead to a very weak recovery in this area.” As if Cleveland has ever really experienced a recovery. Since generally accepted rate of “full employment” is 5.0%, you can see that Cleveland has rarely been at or near full employment for more than a few years.
(Click to expand.)
Cleveland’s problem is that we are overly dependent on too few industries. Just like nobody would expect you to invest all of your savings for retirement in a single stock, Cleveland expects that economic growth will magically appear if they do this. Obviously, this has not been the case. Cities should not rely on one industry, hoping they’ll somehow gain a comparative advantage. We can ask those in Flint, Michigan how well that experiment worked out for them.
To succeed, Cleveland needs to diversify. Given the area’s government corruption and stagnant political atmosphere with near complete Democratic control, it seems very unlikely that things will turn around. Taxes are too high, the government is way too involved with zoning, and education is just plain horrible. Unions in schools, the public and private sector all play a very large part in this, too. However, Cleveland’s elected officials are clueless when it comes to finding answers.
Cimperman went on to explain that the city council’s role was to help business owners and residents “thread the needle” of endless regulations and mandates and edicts. (Cleveland has more than 20 zoning designations alone.) He boasted of helping a linen company—the last one of its kind within city limits—that had been trying for the better part of a decade to get variances allowing it to expand. With Cimperman’s help, the company managed to navigate the paperwork in a mere 18 months. When I talked with him about Houston’s less restrictive land use policies and wide-open approach to new businesses, he scoffed: “Houston is a joke.” If that’s true, the painful punch line is that during the last 50 years, Houston became the country’s fourth-largest city while Cleveland was sliding down to 41st.
Councilman Cimperman, who ran against Rep. Kucinich views the role of city council member as a facilitator for businesses to thread the needle of our archaic laws. That approach is backwards and wrong. Cimperman obviously doesn’t realize that it is he, as a member of the City Council who writes the laws. If it takes 18 months for a business to expand, what business is going to stay in Cleveland? Rather than have business be forced to “thread the needle” why not just get rid of the needle all together? This climate needs to change if Cleveland wants to diversify and attract jobs.
We’ve had two Republican mayors since World War Two. Cleveland Democrats won’t take on unions, because they represent the power base that gets them elected in what remains of Cleveland. What Cleveland needs is a Michelle Rhee to take on the Cleveland Teachers Union, paired with a Chris Christie as mayor. However, even with the formation of the new Cuyahoga County Council, I doubt much will change and Cleveland will slip further into the economic oblivion, if we let it.
Some of you might remember me pestering you to vote for my picture, “Happy Birthday Alexandria” in the Washingtonian Magazine Photo contest about two years ago.
Last night was Alexandria’s birthday, so Mary and I went up to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge with my camera and some goodies to watch the show, which was stopped on and off so planes could land, which was interesting. Below is one of my favorite pics, but here’s the whole album.
I suppose that the theory is, if Clevelanders “buy local” as much as possible instead of buying from national chains, that Cleveland will be better off economically.
It’s a nice thought, but it’s simply not true that buying local is necessarily to Cleveland’s economic benefit.
Take the example of the guy who bought a remote control boat. He bought from a locally owned store because he wanted to keep the money in Cleveland. Buying from a big-box chain store would have had the same effect — supporting the livelihood of people who live in Cleveland. While local retailers may benefit from this concept (which is why they are among its biggest supporters), Clevelanders working at the big-box stores would suffer.
If Cleveland residents bought into this theory en masse, they would pay higher prices for goods, consciously making themselves less wealthy, with less discretionary income to spend at restaurants and other stores. Local retailers are often behind the curve when it comes to having incentives to improve their efficiency, which keeps costs low. Broad adoption of “buy local” wouldn’t change this.
As a transplanted Clevelander in Virginia, I buy Great Lakes Brewery beer, which is now sold in my area, for many reasons. Of course, I buy it because it is a Cleveland beer, delicious, and I went to St. Ignatius a block away. However, in transporting the product here, it becomes comparatively more expensive in price, which might deter me from buying it. If a comparable beer is more affordable, I buy that one.
Clearly, my decision to purchase Great Lakes helps Cleveland, even though I am removed from the Northeast Ohio marketplace. What if I adhered to buying local, and only bought beers brewed in Virginia? Of course, the employees at Dominion Brewery would benefit, but at the expense of Great Lakes’ employees. Whether the beer is sold at a big chain or a small grocery in D.C., my decisions are guided by price, which is the result of how efficient or inefficient both the brewery and the store are at making a product or service available to me.
In the grand scheme of things, the degree to how efficient companies are is generally represented through their prices, which help me determine what goods I buy. Clevelanders should not make purchases solely because a business is located here. A business should earn your hard-earned money because they offer the products you want at competitive prices you’re willing to pay — not because they are located in Cleveland.
Why should I make myself poorer to keep inefficient economic actors in business? Let’s hope Cleveland will not end up like Detroit and artificially keep inefficient businesses around longer than they should be. In the end, businesses that aren’t competitive in the market either fail or close their doors. And when we perpetuate unsustainable business practices, we as consumers not only suffer in the short term, but our region suffers in the long term. All while wasting our scarce resources through higher prices. This is the fallacy of buying local.
