Reply #4: I've been trying to put together a lot of trends I've seen over the last

[flamin lib]

30 years. Retail sales is an example; the big ticket items are sold at cost so to make a profit all sorts of worthless add on sales are forced on the consumer by sales people who would starve without the snake oil. Chief among them is the "extended warranty".

Out sourcing of engineering design means that a four year EE degree can make more as the assistant manager of a dent-n-scratch appliance outlet than designing the things that once made America great.

Walmart moves into a small town and soon there is no other place to buy ANYTHING.

Every major outlet for eye glasses is owned by one Italian company; Eyemasters, Vision Expo, Sears Optical and Target eye care are all owned by Luxottica.

We are being asked to buy more with less money.