There was an article not too long ago in the Business section of the Washington Post about this topic. It asked if declining profits and sales at WalMart weren't because of the lower wages paid by WalMart to its employees and the loss of jobs in US factories because companies like WalMart were looking to cheap 3rd world factories for products instead of getting them at home.

The article made a very good point. If the workers here can't afford goods you won't make the sale no matter how low you go on the price. When Henry Ford wanted to expand the market for automobiles to the masses, one of the first things he did was start paying his workers astronomical wages for the time. But it worked, other manufacturers had to follow suit or lose their best people to Ford and in the process a working class that could afford luxury items was born and so was the modern consumer economy. But as more and more companies outsource jobs to 3rd world hell-holes in the search for "slave" labor the number of consumers here in the states that can afford their products is shrinking.

Thankfully this is starting to turn around. Not only are overseas laborers starting to demand better wages, but especially in call centers US customers are rebelling against talking to a non-US employee with very strong accents or poor English skills. That's why many call centers in India have been closed but those in Ireland have managed to survive longer even with the higher wages.