How Much Did Mega-Dem Donor Ralph Lauren Profit on Olympic Uniforms?Reported by Breitbart on Friday, 13 July 2012 (on July 13, 2012)
|
 I'll admit, when the news broke yesterday that the uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team were made in China, I wasn't really agitated. I'm a capitalist with a capital "C" and strongly subscribe to David Ricardo's idea of comparative advantage, i.e. goods should generally be made where it is most efficient to do so. I don't have any nostalgic feelings that Americans should be employed in every industry, but rather we should gravitate to where we can add the most value to a product. If anything, I was annoyed that the US uniforms featured berets. Berets! But, then I saw how much Ralph Lauren was charging the Olympic Committee for the uniforms.
From ABC News, take a moment to see how much Ralph Lauren charged the Olympic Committee for the Chinese-made uniforms:
MEN:
Beret – $55
Tie – $125
Belt – $85
Shirt – $425
Blazer – $795
Trousers – $295
Shoes – $165
WOMEN:
Beret – $55
Scarf – $58
Belt – $85
Shirt – $179
Skirt – $498
Blazer – $598
$425 for a shirt? I'm pretty certain I could go to Saville Row in London and get a shirt custom-made for less than that. These are not, "let's go to China to keep our costs down" prices. These are "let's go to China to see how much we can wring out of the Olympic Committee" prices.
Again, I'm a confirmed capitalist, but we are talking about outfitting the US Olympic team. If Lauren is going to charge Neiman-Marcus prices for the uniforms, couldn't he maybe take a bit less of a profit to have the work done in America? I can't believe you can charge this much for the clothes and not make a profit with the work being done in America. This isn't a profit-maximizing venture, its out-fitting the Olympic team. And, based on what I can see in the photo, did he really put his own logo--the polo player--on the uniforms? Shouldn't HE have to pay for that kind of product placement? How much is Lauren pocketing on this "civic duty?"
Of course, Lauren is a major donor to Obama and has given tens of thousands of dollars to the Democrat party. Harry Reid said yesterday he thinks the uniforms should be burned. (Aesthetically, I agree with him.) Will he also burn campaign checks from Ralph Lauren?
Links:  Full news story
|
|
|
| Recent related news |
| |
PRWeb
57 minutes ago | Let’s make ‘One World One Song’ number one on the SL8 in time for G8 UK.
(PRWEB) May 20,... |
guardian.co.uk
3 days ago | Alexander Lebedev is to appear in a Moscow court on charges of hooliganism after punching a rival on... |
Zero Hedge
4 days ago | · As scandals mount, White House springs into damage control (Reuters)
· Glencore Xstrata chairman... |
PRWeb
5 days ago | NBC and NBC Sports Network to Provide 13 Hours of Long and Short Track Speedskating... |
PRWeb
6 days ago | Beautifully bound and featuring exquisite photography, the latest tome from Quintessentially... |
| |
DailyFinance
6 days ago | Filed under: Investing
*Dentsu Reports Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended... |
guardian.co.uk
1 week ago | Better than expected US retail sales figures helps push market back into positive territory after... |
guardian.co.uk
1 week ago | Leading index dips after seven days of gains, after disappointing Chinese data and banking sector... |
Huffington Post
1 week ago | SAO PAULO -- The cars roll endlessly off the local assembly lines of the industry's biggest... |
Business Insider
1 week ago | AP IMPACT: Global automakers' deadly cars drive up Brazil's traffic fatalities
SAO PAULO (AP) —... |
| |
|
|
Facebook
E-mail
Twitter
Mixx
StumbleUpon
FriendFeed