The tech is nice, but at the end of the day people are still the biggest driver of conversion.

In the face of a general supply/demand imbalance, landlords will face the same decision that retailers do: lower the price vs. differentiate the product. Sometimes, improving the space to attract more shoppers, making it more desirable for retailers, will be a better long-term option. Over time, value retailers will continue to shift toward lower-cost space while premium retailers will continue to shift toward higher-value space.

It was misleading to claim that the corporate tax rate reduction would increase wage rates. In the real world, business decisions are made using cost/benefit analysis on an after-tax basis. Through 2017, the 35% corporate federal tax rate meant that every $1.00 spent on labor received an effective taxpayer subsidy of $.35. Thus, an employee earning, say, $100,000 had a net after-tax cost of $65,000 ($100,000 - $35,000). Starting in 2018, the 21% federal corporate tax rate means that the corporation will now receive only a $21,000 tax subsidy; thus, increasing the after-tax cost of that employee to $79,000 ($100,000 - $21,000). That means the after-tax labor cost to the corporation will rise by over 20%. On the other hand, the expansion of bonus depreciation means that corporations will now have relatively more incentive to invest in automation. Such automation tends to have the short-term effect of reducing demand for labor. Both of these factors should combine to have a negative impact on labor demand and wage rates over the next few years.