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That Cheap Bookshelf Has a Global Cost

But new book finds it's not all China's fault and IKEA is a hypocrite

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 12, 2009 3:38 PM CDT

(Newser) – Though you might have hand-crafted antiques handed down from your grandparents, chances are your grandkids aren't getting their mitts on that wood-veneer bookshelf you just schlepped home from IKEA, writes Stephanie Zacharek for Salon. The modern desire for cheap, replaceable goods is a cause and a symptom of a global epidemic, and as Ellen Ruppel Shell's book Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture tells it, we can't simply blame China.

Craftsmanship "is what distinguishes the work of humans from the work of machines, and it is everything that IKEA and other discounters are not," Shell writes. Although "Shell can't offer many helpful solutions to this tangle of economic and moral problems," writes Zacharek, she points to a mid-Atlantic-based grocery chain that falls back on a very old-fashioned business model: "Treat your employees well, and they'll serve you well in return. The cost may be higher, but the price is right."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. President and Chief Financial Officer Mike Duke speaks during the annual Wal-Mart shareholder's meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 5, 2009. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)

IKEA's instruction booklets translate into any language... or no language. (©shareski)

IKEA charges less for products because the consumer does much of the assembly work. But what happened to the appreciation of craftsmanship? (©yoppy)

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We do not yet have the luxury to concern ourselves too much with things like human rights. - A Shanghai journalist, on the way the Chinese government caves easily to international pressure to lower workers' standards of living

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

kokuaguy

Jul 13, 2009 6:49 AM CDT

I wish I knew what the hell you are saying, laptout. I'll give you a thumbs up on faith.

NewserScooter

Jul 13, 2009 3:22 AM CDT

Jon, why hold that against The big boxes. Name any company that covers hourly workers with real health care insurance ? And by the way the same argument can be applied to Europe with their Gov't. run health care. We cover the costs of the defense of Europe, so they can pay for some of that care!

JonmarkP

Jul 12, 2009 9:01 AM CDT

it's kinda like Wal-Mart's health care policy for hourly employees-let them get treated at the emergency room, let the public pay the cost, then advertise what a great deal we all get by shopping at Wal-Mart. No thanks, Ikea. No thanks, Wal-Mart.

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Salon (Source Grid »)

The family-run grocery chain that Shell praises
www.wegmans.com

China • consumer goods • cheap • Ikea • Walmart • craftsmanship

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That Cheap Bookshelf Has a Global Cost