WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:04.120 You're list Saints KFI AM six forty The Bill Handles 2 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:07.200 show on demand on the iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:12.039 App KFIM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. 4 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.320 This is the Bill Handle Show. Wayne resumes sitting in 5 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:18.480 Bill's on vacation. He's back after the new year, and 6 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.000 every Thursday at this time we love to talk to 7 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:24.519 Joel Larsgard. He hosts the show How to Money right 8 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:27.559 here on KFI Sundays from noon to two. You can 9 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:30.399 always get podcasts of that show on our website at 10 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:34.479 KFIM six forty dot com or on the iHeart Radio app, 11 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.759 and he's on social media at how to Money. Joel. 12 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:43.079 Welcome back to the show. Joel Larsgard, glad to be here. 13 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:43.479 Wayne. 14 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:48.960 Hey, let's get right into this first bottom line, there's 15 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.000 all the talk of tariffs are coming. The new administration 16 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.320 will impose all kinds of terifts all over the place, 17 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:58.640 and that will cause inflation and just I don't think 18 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:00.880 there's enough time in the world to try to unpack 19 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:06.719 all of that. But bottom line, should people be stocking 20 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:12.280 up on anything or making major purchases right now because 21 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:17.040 tariffs are coming? If so, what things should we be 22 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:17.599 doing that. 23 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:19.840 With Yeah, that's a good question. 24 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.159 And there's been more inks billed kind of about the 25 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.879 potential incursion of tariffs onto our lives. And the truth is, 26 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:31.560 the way tariffs work, they get passed on right to companies. 27 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:33.560 Let's say the price of a washing machine goes up 28 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:37.000 or parts that you're the washing machine that a company 29 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:39.879 might be importing from overseas well, the company's not just 30 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:41.760 going to eat the extra expense, they're going to pass 31 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.319 out on to us. And so the washing machine example 32 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:48.840 is a real example from the first Trump administration and Washington, 33 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.840 a washing machine prices really did go up in price, 34 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.120 and so yeah, people were paying an extra fifty or 35 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:58.920 sixty bucks for a washer or a dryer, and the 36 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.599 same thing could be true of other things that we buy. 37 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:04.200 Potentially a lot of things that we buy. 38 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:06.040 It's just hard to know, right, It's hard to know 39 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:10.439 how much of the tariff talk is like political rhetoric, 40 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.840 how much of it is going to happen. And so 41 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.719 I think, you know, we've seen people like stocking up 42 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:19.879 let's say at the grocery store or something like that. 43 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:22.159 I don't necessarily think that's a great idea. 44 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:24.400 They're assuming, Hey, higher prices are coming down the pike, 45 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:27.639 why don't I frontload some of my grocery shopping. Now, 46 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:29.520 I think if there's like a great sale on something 47 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.599 you're totally going to use, that's when I'm okay with 48 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:33.919 frontloading a purchase. But just because of the promise of 49 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:37.719 certain tariffs, I think maybe some folks at least are overreacting. 50 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.639 And it's it's just really hard to kind of make 51 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:45.719 a buying decision based on vapor policy, right, like kind 52 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:47.840 of like vapor where it's not it's not quite real. 53 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.000 It's been talked about, but we just don't know the 54 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:51.960 extent of the impact that it's going to have. 55 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.360 Okay, So that was that was the wise answer. It 56 00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:58.479 sounds like that was a correct answer. It doesn't. Unfortunately, 57 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:00.000 now I don't know if I should buy. 58 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:00.599 Some or not. 59 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:03.120 Well, okay, I'll say this. 60 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:05.719 So there's one there's one place where I think some 61 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:09.400 of the Trump promises should have an impact on buying 62 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:13.639 decisions and so, and that specific thing is electric vehicles. 63 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:16.000 So some folks have said, oh, I'm thinking about buying 64 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:19.719 a car next year, should I frontload that purchase? And 65 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.639 I think, well, one I want people to buy used 66 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:25.960 cars anyway for the most part, because they're so much cheaper. 67 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:28.120 But if you said, hey, listen entering, I don't know. 68 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:29.800 I was thinking about getting it in February or March. 69 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:33.199 I think front loading that purchase to the next few 70 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:35.599 days before the end of the year, when you are 71 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:39.159 guaranteed to get the seventy five hundred dollars tax credit 72 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.719 for many vehicles for many makes and models, makes sense. 73 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.000 If it was something you were going to do anyway, 74 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:47.120 you were just going You're just moving that purchase forward 75 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:50.159 a little bit. I think because of the threat of 76 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:54.400 removing the ev tax credit. It just a seventy five 77 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.439 hundred dollars price difference is significant, so ensuring that you're 78 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:59.840 able to get while the getting is good, I think 79 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:01.719 it least on something like that, you might let the 80 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:04.639 rhetoric influence the timing of your purchase, not the fact 81 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:05.800 that you're actually making the purchase. 82 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.199 Though, Okay, I got it. If it's something you're going 83 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:11.759 to buy anyway at some point, yeah you may, and 84 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:14.120 you can go ahead and buy it now, buy it now, 85 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:17.079 But that doesn't mean I have no need for a 86 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.519 new refrigerator whatsoever. But I'm going to buy a new 87 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:21.439 one just because I want to win. I want to 88 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:23.800 win some kind of game exactly. 89 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:28.040 Some people who could find themselves in in kind of 90 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:32.240 that position where they're justifying purchases that they otherwise wouldn't 91 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.079 have made because you're like, well, the tariffs are coming, 92 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:36.560 so this is a smart money move, right, And it's like, well, 93 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:40.000 were you going to buy the item anyway? Or or 94 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.680 are you stocking up needlessly on something that isn't even 95 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:46.480 you know, in this tariff discussion. That's what I want 96 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.240 people to to not fall victim to. 97 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:54.319 All right, good, So the mother of all purchases, and 98 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:56.879 we're talking about should you buy a thing? And the 99 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:00.360 mother of all purchases is a home And and I 100 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:04.879 understand you have some interesting information about some differences between 101 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:08.000 homeowners and people who are not homeowners. 102 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:08.519 Yeah. 103 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:12.360 So there were two really interesting studies that came out recently. 104 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.040 One finds that people live longer if they buy a 105 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:21.759 home by about six months, so homeowners versus renters, homeowners 106 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:23.600 are going to live roughly six months longer. 107 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:25.120 You're adding six months to your life span. 108 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:30.000 The other interesting statistic was that the media networth of 109 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:34.959 homeowners versus renters in the US, and it's a significant discrepancy. 110 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:36.800 So the average net worth of a renter in the 111 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:39.519 US is ten thousand dollars. The average net worth of 112 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:44.040 a homeowner is four hundred thousand dollars. And so you 113 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:48.079 might be tempted to hear those stats and say, well, gosh, 114 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:49.879 I want the fountain of youth, I want to live longer, 115 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:52.720 and I would like to have you have more money, 116 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:54.839 have higher net worth. Maybe I actould just go out 117 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:57.000 and buy a house tomorrow. I don't think it's quite 118 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.240 that simple, and we can talk about the nuances of that, 119 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:03.120 but it is kind of fascinating to see that, especially 120 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.040 like the longer life thing. I've never heard anything like 121 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:07.680 that before. The network discrepancy has kind of been around, 122 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:11.079 it's just grown, especially as the as the real estate 123 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:14.279 market has been flourishing. But it's it's fascinating to see 124 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.240 that that homeowners tend to come out on top. 125 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:19.360 You know, I'm either going to now reveal myself to 126 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.959 be incredibly smart or super dumb, and I don't know 127 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:28.480 which one. I don't know which it is. But isn't 128 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:33.079 that I'm talking about the net worth differences between non 129 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.720 homeowners and homeowners and I assume most non homeowners were 130 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:40.560 thinking of renters or maybe people that live with their 131 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:45.600 parents or something. Isn't the difference there simply the market 132 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.959 value of the house that they have. Yes, I'm you're 133 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:53.319 I mean, of course, of course, everything else being equal, 134 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:57.040 wouldn't a homeowner have more net worth because they have 135 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.680 a home that gets counted. Your apartment doesn't get counted. 136 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:01.839 That's right. 137 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:04.079 I mean, you have an asset depending on when you 138 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:06.399 bought your home. Let's say you bought your home five, six, eight, 139 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:11.000 ten years ago. We're talking about substantial growth in equity 140 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:12.720 in that home over those years. 141 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:17.959 So if you bought a home in twenty twelve, you, you. 142 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:19.079 Know, almost thirteen years later, you're talking about that at 143 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.639 home having at least doubled in value, probably more. 144 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:22.399 And so it is. 145 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:24.959 It has been this forced method of savings for you, 146 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:27.839 and it's accumulated to your bottom line, so it's made 147 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:33.000 your network look pretty fantastic. The problem with just saying, oh, 148 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:34.879 then I should buy a home that's the best way 149 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:37.360 to get rich is that it's just not true when 150 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:40.480 you look at the average increase in home values over 151 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:43.639 time versus the average annual increase of. 152 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:44.360 The stock market. 153 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:46.920 The stock market is a better investment than a primary home, 154 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:50.519 and a primary home comes with other expenses as well. 155 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:53.160 Anybody who owns a home knows this, like, hey, my 156 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.759 insurance bill just skyrocketed, or oh my goodness, the gutters 157 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:58.360 need to be replaced, or I sprang a leak in 158 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.000 the basement, and you know, my neighbor the other day, 159 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:04.519 like literally had a pipe burst, and you don't want 160 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:06.560 to know what's flowing into his basement. It's terrible, right, 161 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:10.160 and the repairs are incredibly expensive. So it's not that 162 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:12.759 I'm against home ownership. I'm certainly not. But you don't 163 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:14.639 want to assume that owning a home is the best 164 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:16.680 way to grow your net worth. If you rent, and 165 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:18.879 you're paying a whole lot less for rent, and you 166 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:21.720 invest the difference between what you would have paid for 167 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.480 the mortgage and the repairs on a home that you 168 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:28.360 would buy, you'd come out in a much better position 169 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:32.200 over time growing that route and investing the difference than 170 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.440 you would putting that money into a primary home. 171 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:34.919 Typically. 172 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:37.799 All right, awesome, Joel, thank you so much. We love 173 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:40.639 talking to you. Your show is on Sunday's noon to two. 174 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:45.440 Right here on KFI how to Money and Social Media 175 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:48.320 at how to Money, Joel, We'll talk to you again soon. 176 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:50.000 Sounds good. Thanks for having me Wayne. 177 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:57.840 Hey, remember the it started in the nineties, really, when 178 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:05.120 Walmart was a big police topic and multiple people wrote books, 179 00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:11.919 the titles of which were things like Walmart The High 180 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:15.840 Cost of Low Price or I don't know if you 181 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:24.919 read how Walmart is Destroying America and the world. They 182 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:29.639 were getting such bad publicity that they actually set up 183 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:34.399 a special department. They did this in two thousand and five, 184 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:38.600 I think, and a special department just to try to. 185 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:47.840 Improve their image. Now, eventually people came to Walmart's rescue, 186 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:52.600 and those people were a lot of economics professors and 187 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:58.480 other hoity toity and elite economics people, and they start 188 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:01.080 So you had the narrative first, which is Walmart moves 189 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:02.879 in and they shut down all my mom and pops 190 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:07.519 and they destroy the communities. Then the economics people came 191 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.360 and they said, no, no, no, no, you dummy. Yes, 192 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:17.279 it's true Walmart doesn't pay as much as some other retailers, 193 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:23.000 but it's not that big a deal because when Walmart 194 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:29.720 shows up, also you save money on your groceries. You 195 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.799 see it all works out, It evens out. Maybe there's 196 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:36.279 a tiny little bit of an effect, but it's not 197 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.600 that big of a deal. And you have to listen 198 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:41.960 to me because I have a patch on my jacket 199 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:45.639 and I'm smoking a briar pipe, so obviously I know 200 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.360 more about it than you. And that went on for 201 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:58.759 a while, and then some economists and social scientists decided 202 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:03.159 to use to try to use science to figure out 203 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:07.759 whether there's an effect or not from Walmart. So they're 204 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:12.159 two different papers that have come out, and they don't 205 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:15.159 have an agenda. They just they wanted to try to 206 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:17.559 get the best information and data they could and the 207 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:21.000 best methodology and try to figure out what is there 208 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.399 a Walmart effect, and if there is, what is it. 209 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:28.759 So the first one, which was published ole Bok three 210 00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:36.600 months ago or so, got data going back to nineteen 211 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:43.120 sixty eight, a bunch of data about eighteen thousand specific 212 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:51.639 people all across the country. They sorted it for demographic similarity, 213 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:55.840 so they wanted to compare apples to apples, and they 214 00:11:55.879 --> 00:12:01.840 created these two groups that were comparable demographic and then 215 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:08.440 they tracked various outcomes for those people, economic outcomes, health outcomes, 216 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:13.080 morbidity and all of it. And it's the first time 217 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.759 that you've been able to do the same thing as 218 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:20.720 a clinical trial for a medicine, but for an economic 219 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:22.960 question like this, because you know what happens with a 220 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:26.399 clinical trial. Two groups, one gets the actual drug, one 221 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:28.960 gets a placebo, and then you follow them for a 222 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.320 long time and you see what happens. This is kind 223 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:34.399 of what they were doing, but with people. And they 224 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:39.840 compared one group people that got a Walmart that's kind 225 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.080 of like getting the drug, and the other people didn't 226 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:46.639 get a Walmart, they got a placebo. And after they 227 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:51.279 crunched all of that, they found that ten years after 228 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:56.279 a Walmart opened in a community, the average household had 229 00:12:56.279 --> 00:13:02.600 a six percent decline in income. Now you still have 230 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:05.000 the guy in the jacket with the patch and smoking 231 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:08.919 the pipe saying, well, maybe so, but they saved that 232 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:12.200 because there was a Walmart that they could shop at. 233 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.759 So now you have to figure out, oh gosh, how 234 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:19.320 do we find out how much people save by shopping 235 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:26.320 at a Walmart. Well, Walmart put out a study themselves 236 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:33.080 and in twenty twenty four equivalent dollars, Walmart itself found 237 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:35.720 that households who shop their save an average of thirty 238 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:42.080 one hundred dollars a year. So Walmart is certainly not 239 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:45.480 going to understate how much you save by shopping there. 240 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:49.360 I'm not saying they exaggerated it. I'm saying there's no 241 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:53.039 way they understated it. So that would mean it's still 242 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:57.039 a net loss if you If you the average income 243 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.799 declined because a Walmart opened up is at five thousand 244 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.080 dollars a year, and you save, according to Walmart, thirty 245 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.840 one hundred dollars a year. These are both twenty twenty 246 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:10.320 four dollars, then it is a net loss to the 247 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:14.440 average household. So there is a Walmart effect according to 248 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:19.000 that paper. Here's the problem, though, how do you know 249 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:26.879 Walmarts open up equally distributed across the country. Probably Walmart 250 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:30.360 chooses where to try to open a Walmart based on 251 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.519 whatever factors they look at. Maybe they look at this 252 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:36.120 area doesn't have a lot of union activity going on, 253 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:39.200 or maybe they look at something else. So how do 254 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:41.080 you now you got to go, Well, how do we 255 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:44.120 know there are all all kinds of parts of the 256 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.240 country that are getting Walmarts and other parts of the 257 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:50.240 country that never get a Walmart. And this has something 258 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:53.879 to do not with Walmart. But whatever the reasons Walmart 259 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:58.080 chooses to go into a community, it's those reasons. The 260 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:01.480 same reasons are why the happens. It doesn't really have 261 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:05.279 to do with Walmart. Well, there's another paper that came 262 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:08.840 out that did an analysis where they were because how 263 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:12.720 would you compare. Here's what they did pretty smart. Let's 264 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:17.000 compare places that got a Walmart with places where Walmart 265 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:22.399 wanted to go but wasn't able to go. Now we're 266 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:26.559 talking about areas that Walmart chose, and sometimes they were 267 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:28.600 able to open the store, and sometimes they were not 268 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.360 able to open the store. But they chose all of 269 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:38.840 these areas and they found the same thing. And it's 270 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:42.360 not hard to understand because in a nutshell, it's not 271 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:45.399 just that Walmart comes in and has low prices and 272 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:48.159 undercuts the competitors, and the mom and pop and the 273 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:51.120 regional change have to go out of business and then 274 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:53.440 all you have is Walmart and that's the only place 275 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:57.320 you have to work in some communities becomes Walmart. But 276 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:01.120 it's also this Walmart makes their supple sell to them 277 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:04.159 at a reduced cost. That's how their prices are lower. 278 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:10.440 If you're a supplier in the community. You have to 279 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:14.200 cut your price, you go out of business. The people 280 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:16.799 who worked for you, they didn't have anything to do 281 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.799 with Walmart directly. It's just you made a product that 282 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.600 you sold to Walmart. Now you're out of business. Jobs 283 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:31.399 are lost from your business, and you switch in your 284 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:36.399 community from not having local employers who produce things because 285 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.200 it's all coming in from China now because it's all 286 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:43.399 going to Walmart. So, according to these two papers, there 287 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.559 is a Walmart effect. I don't know that that makes 288 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:48.960 Walmart evil. I mean it may make capitalism a little 289 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:53.159 bit evil. I don't think Walmart is singular in this 290 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:57.759 as to these issues, but I don't know that they're 291 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:03.960 the savior of any particular community at all. This topic 292 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.559 of discussion does involve Mexico in a big way. During 293 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:14.480 the campaign, now President elect Donald Trump talked about many 294 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:17.240 many things, and a lot of them had to do 295 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:19.759 with Mexico. For example, he said he would put twenty 296 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:25.000 five percent tariffs on a lot of Mexico's exports here, 297 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:29.319 like tomatoes and avocados and tequila and car parts. Only 298 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:33.519 one of those is not recommended as an ingredient in 299 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:42.640 a drink. And also said that maybe we would send 300 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:48.759 troops into Mexico to fight the drug cartels. The idea 301 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:51.960 being Mexico is not able to get a handle on 302 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.160 these cartels, so we might use and he said, this 303 00:17:56.200 --> 00:18:01.039 is a quote, He said, we'll use special forces, iber warfare, 304 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:06.839 and other covert and overt actions to inflict maximum damage 305 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:12.559 on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations. Okay, cyber warfare fine 306 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:15.640 with me, should be fine with most people. Do you 307 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:20.319 care if we act into the cartel's computers? Covert overt 308 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:22.160 actions could be anything. So I don't know what to 309 00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:28.160 make of that special Forces. Here's where it gets dicey. 310 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:36.079 Do you send troops into Mexico to fight cartels without 311 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:41.400 Mexico giving you permission to do it? As a general proposition, 312 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.160 the answer is no. You don't send your troops into 313 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:49.000 another country to fight somebody without the permission of that country. 314 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.880 Is this a special case because of who we're talking about? 315 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:58.440 These cartels that are so violent and so really disturbingly 316 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:03.279 violent and and can't be stopped by the Mexican government. 317 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:08.119 So he said all these things, and it was seen 318 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:13.799 as more bluster than an actual plan by many. But 319 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:18.240 now he has said who he would appoint to be 320 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:21.119 the ambassador to Mexico. And because of who it is, 321 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.720 people who formerly said, oh, he's just, you know, saying 322 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:27.240 some stuff are now saying, oh, he may be dead 323 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:31.400 serious about sending US troops into Mexico. The guy is 324 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:36.079 Ronald D. Johnson. I believe there is a congress person 325 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:40.519 named Ronald Johnson. This is not him. This is a 326 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:44.359 different guy. This is a former military guy, a former 327 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:48.920 Green Beret and also a former official with the CIA, 328 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:53.440 also a former ambassador to El Salvador, a country not 329 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:59.279 immune from a violence problem with the gangs there. And 330 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:02.519 when he was the ambassador to El Salvador, this guy Johnson, 331 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:05.960 he supported the president of El Salvador big time all 332 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.200 the policies, and you may recall a lot of controversy 333 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:12.720 as the government of El Salvador went to crack down 334 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.279 on the gangs. They were accused of a lot of 335 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:19.279 human rights abuses. But also, which is one thing where 336 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:21.799 you kind of go, I mean, I'd like to be 337 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.960 the most the most progressive guy on the block, maybe, 338 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.960 but I kind of go, well, human rights abuses, but 339 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:33.279 it's gangs that you're like the rights you're abusing are 340 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:37.119 those of gangs. I don't know. I don't know how 341 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:38.839 upset I am about that. I don't know where it's 342 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:42.880 prioritized on my list of things to worry about. But also, 343 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.599 the president El Salvador was known for, you know, cracking 344 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:51.839 down on any dissent, which seems decidedly Unamerican, but then again, 345 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:55.680 it's not the United States anyway. He was into all 346 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:59.599 that stuff. Ronald Johnson now he's going to be the 347 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:03.200 ambassad to Mexico. So the idea is he's a guy 348 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:07.400 who would be totally into something like having troops sent 349 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:11.880 into Mexico, and he's a guy who might really press 350 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:18.680 the President of Mexico hard to allow it. Now, the 351 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:22.359 thing is this, Okay, if the concern is, what if 352 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:26.880 we send an ambassador over there and he successfully pressures 353 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:35.160 the President of Mexico Hardye Scheinbaum to allow US troops 354 00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:39.640 to go in and fight the cartel, Well, then he 355 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.920 was able to convince somebody to allow something. Would we 356 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:50.839 send troops without their permission? Though, that's a completely different 357 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:53.519 kettle of fish. To send in troops and Mexico has 358 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:57.240 said no, and we send them anyway? That really could 359 00:21:58.279 --> 00:22:03.720 create a massive problem worldwide. The world could very rapidly 360 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:07.079 turn against the United States. And we have a history 361 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:11.640 already with Mexico where we tried to do something where 362 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:14.480 we did not go into Mexico at all, and it 363 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.000 pissed them off. Don't know if you remember this. There 364 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.599 was a former Defense secretary of Mexico. His name was 365 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:28.960 Salvador Sanfuegos, and he was arrested at lax Here in 366 00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:32.880 the United States on suspicion of drug trafficking, and the 367 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:35.599 government of Mexico at the time it was Lopez Obrador, 368 00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:38.279 went crazy, what are you doing? You rested this guy, 369 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.880 He's a Mexican citizen. You don't have enough evidence. We 370 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:43.039 don't know what's going on. We hate this and they 371 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:47.400 forced they forced the Trump administration to send him back 372 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:49.799 to Mexico. And when he got back to Mexico, what 373 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.400 did they do. Did they put him in jail and said, yeah, 374 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.400 we should get to the bottom of whether or not 375 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:57.839 you're a big drug dealer. No, they gave him a 376 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.480 major military award. And it really hurt US Mexico relations 377 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:05.759 and it made it much more difficult for our DEA 378 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:09.319 to work with the authorities in Mexico, So there's already 379 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:13.200 some history when we did not send any troops into 380 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:16.880 the country. If we were to do that, it would 381 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:21.279 probably be game over for any kind of friendly relationship 382 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:25.880 with Mexico, which I'm well o. I already hear some 383 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:30.440 of you going, yeah, who needs it? Joining me now 384 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:33.759 as he does every Thursday on this show, the host 385 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:37.039 of Later with Mo Kelly from seven to ten pm 386 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:45.119 Monday through Friday on KFI. This is earlier with Moe Kelly. Obviously, Mo. 387 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:49.960 How are you good morning, Wayne, Happy holidays, post merry Christmas, 388 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:53.440 a second day of Hanaka, second day of Honika. 389 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:55.440 If I'm not mistaken, how are you, sir? 390 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:00.119 Good? All of that is correct what you said. I 391 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:00.759 gotta give it to you. 392 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:02.640 It's always good to talk to you, just because we 393 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:03.880 need to talk just more often. 394 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:08.759 Oh oh, I agree, I agree. Maybe sometime later today 395 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:10.960 we can have a talk off the air. 396 00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:14.759 As well, Yes, definitely, but also on the air. Now. 397 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:17.319 People may not know that we used to be adjacent 398 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:19.759 to each other on the weekends. You had a show 399 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:22.480 on the weekends. I had a show on the weekends, 400 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:25.519 and you were better than me. So your show was first, 401 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:29.680