So Colby thinks that the retail sector is more important than the entertainment sector "only to retailers" -- this when retail accounts for 4 times as many jobs as entertainment -- and that's in California. In 1997 across the U.S., retail receipts were 28 times those of enertainment (actually "Arts, Entertainment and Recreation"); retail paid 10 times as much in total payroll. (1997 US Economic Census). Wow. First time I've ever caught Colby being provincial, if only in a technical sense. He's Alberta-focused.
Retail, wholesale, and services are the backbone of a mature economy, which Alberta manifestly does not have. Here in Alberta it's still about the oooiiiil. If the oil (and the coal, and the tar sands) disappeared, Alberta would become a right-wing Saskatchewan; Canadian Nebraska.
But mature economies aren't like that. Nobody goes to New York for the farms, or the mineral wealth, or the docks. They go to New York because it's New York -- the economy is huge, it's self-sustaining. Like LA's economy: in LA the economy is not about oil or movies or the defense industry or software or real estate or construction. The LA economy exists because three million people live in LA. A major component of the economy is the provision of basic goods like food and clothing. And that is retail.
I don't want to talk about the working conditions in retail jobs, which are reportedly horrible. Part of the reason retail gets a bad rap is that nobody wants to work in retail. Fine. I'd probably enjoy retail, because I'm a contrary person.
No, I want to talk about value creation in retail. I think that's part of the distaste people feel for retail -- it's distaste for crass commercialism, mercantilism -- fundamentally, distaste for the bourgeoisie. (Great: first I call Colby provincial, now I'm calling him a communist. Sorry, old chap.) Retail looks like a business enterprise based on taking money from the consumer by marking up the price of goods.
It's easy to see that value is created in a retail operation. If it makes a profit, then value must have been created somewhere, right? But it's hard to point a finger at when. And until recently it was a silly question to ask.
In my line of work -- computer programming -- it's easy to see when the value is created. We sit down and one of us types and the other watches for errors and between the two of us we just, y'know, create value. The same is true for writers, animators, singers -- all intellectual property creators -- they just create value all day long. If you watch you can see it happen.
But when does it happen in retail? When the wholesale order comes in? When it's broken up and stored? When an item goes on the shelf? When the customer comes into the store? When the item goes in the basket? The value is realized when the customer pays. But when is it made?