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To: Sherman Logan
Since the sales of the new store will largely come from a reduction in sales by existing stores, the "new" jobs will be offset by loss of jobs elsewhere.

Hard to believe that, in this day and age, folks still believe in the zero-sum fallacy.

15 posted on 07/20/2013 4:48:31 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy

Not a fallacy, in this instance.

Let us assume Walmart sales average $100M per store in a year.

Three stores open in DC, with total annual sales of $300M.

Do you seriously contend that the city’s population suddenly spends $300M more than the previous year for toothpaste and T-shirts? Most, effectively all, of that $300M will come from other stores’ lost business.

You have just expressed a zero-sum fallacy fallacy.

The true zero-sum fallacy is that any one person or organization in the economy gaining business must result in a loss for someone else, that there is only so much wealth to go around.

What I am pointing out is that in any given market, while a zero-sum is not applicable, the total sales are quite inelastic. If McDonalds increases its sales by $10B, it generally means most of that is from reduced sales to other fast food outlets, not that the world suddenly decided to spend $10B on lousy hamburgers.


26 posted on 07/20/2013 5:10:25 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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