re: EBC Book #1 - Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt

Your point re: Wal-Mart having more profits to grow and create more jobs (even lower wage ones) is a really good angle on the topic. I wish I'd mentioned that in the discussion with my sister. Arguing Wal-Mart should just do with lower profits is a perfect example of looking only at immediate effects and the effects of a small group of people without considering the bigger picture.

The restaurant point is also good. Wages are subject to the same forces of supply and demand as any other good or service. If you price yourself out of the market, you simply won't attract the people you need and your business will fail.

Hazlitt doesn't use a lot of stats and figures to prove these points (something he disclaimed in the preface to the book), but all of this certainly seems to be very sensical.

I'm looking forward to dissecting these issues more in future readings.