Multimedia Collection

Addicted to Cheap Shopping? Why the Real Cost of Goods Keeps Going Down

DVD
61 min
2007
HF5429.2 .A33 2008 DVD

In this program host Libby Potter travels around the world as she takes a meaningful look at the economics behind inexpensive goods for sale in big-box stores and malls. Cost-cutting through supply chain management and waste reduction, economies of scale achieved by shipping offshore-manufactured goods to market via super-container ships, the Wal-Mart effect, and the no-frills philosophy of IKEA are addressed. The triumphs and woes of China, in its role as manufacturer for the world, is given special attention, and the clothing industry is presented as a case study of the cheap goods cycle. But the program also considers the hidden societal costs of cheap goods, such as sweatshop labor and the environmental impact of cavalier over consumption, and questions how much longer prices will continue to drop as China's standard of living rises

Presenter, Libby Potter. Produced & directed by Leo Telling.

Distributed by Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

Description Disclaimer

Business & Economics

Contact Us: (541) 737-2538,