“Compared with the early 1970s, in 2007 we spent 32 percent less on clothes, 18 percent less on food, 52 percent less on appliances, and 24 percent less on owning and maintaining a car.” — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“At a national level, the study found that thanks to Wal-Mart the total earnings of retail workers declined by $4.5 billion, with most of… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Andrew Young, a former U.S. Congressman and U.N. ambassador turned Wal-Mart spokesman, seemed to offer an explanation: “Poverty in America,” he said, “is market… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Cheap objects resist involvement. We tend to invest less in their purchase, care, and maintenance, and that's part of what makes them so attractive.… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“The typical capitalists are lovers of power rather than sensual indulgence, but they have the same tendency to crush and to take tribute that… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“If enough dishonest merchants water their milk, more and more customers will forget what normal milk tastes like and buy only the cheaper -… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Discounters gave the common man and woman the opportunity to eschew the cobbler and the darning needle, to break in a brand-new pair of… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“since wage and benefit savings are not the main part of the cost advantage for the company it could (conceivably) “continue to pass on… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Mexico has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs to China. U.S. Department of Commerce data reveal that from 2002 to 2003 Mexico lost market… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Americans pay less for food than do citizens of any other developed nation.” — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“Craftsmanship cements a relationship of trust between buyer and seller, worker and employer, and expects something of both. It is about caring about the… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“MIT-trained urban development expert Wig Zamore said: “IKEA is the least sustainable retailer on the planet.” — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
“...mass market consumption offers the facade of social equality without forcing society to go through the hard work of redistributing wealth. Low prices lead… — Ellen Ruppel Shell Copy Share Image
