[Vision2020] Buildings old and new + taxes

[Jeff Harkins]

Well, I think that is an example of the inept, corrupt or incompetent 
management issue that you raised regarding box stores - fact is it was a 
box store, the community survived its presence here and its demise.  And 
the building is now occupied by two more box stores - Office Depot and 
Hastings.

At 05:49 PM 4/11/2005, you wrote:

>Not really fair to include Ernst...it was a bankrupcy problem. But the
>Moscow store was doing fine.
>PK
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Melynda Huskey" <mghuskey at msn.com>
>To: <jeffh at moscow.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 10:16 AM
>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Buildings old and new + taxes
>
>
>Jeff writes:
>
> >Markets run best when demand is the driving force for the operation of the
> >market.  An unfettered demand (that invisible hand) will allocate goods and
> >services to their appropriate values.  For those that fear the appearance
> >of "new" box stores, they should put their fears at rest.  If the box store
> >is serving the needs of the market, it will survive.  If it doesn't serve
> >the interests of the consumer, it won't.  Even in Moscow, we have had the
> >box stores come and go - Ernst, K-Mart, Lamont's, "big" style Sears, even
> >Tidyman's.
>
>Jeff, something that has always troubled me about this model is that "the
>market" is so vaguely defined.  For example, the benefit to shareholders is
>a powerful driver of corporate policy, often to the detriment of consumers,
>who may not even know how badly they're being screwed by sweet deals among
>capitalists.  And when a company like, say, Enron collapses, the victims of
>this operation of the free-market are the rank and file employees and
>consumers, not the executives.  The free market allows the folks who have
>broken the law and grown rich at the expense of others to buy their way out
>of trouble, while those folks who lost their pensions after years of working
>for the company have no hope of recovering their lost earnings.
>
>The destruction of the natural world, negative health effects, the
>consumption of irreplaceable natural resources--clearly NOT in the long-term
>interest of consumers--are rarely part of the operations of the market.
>Similarly, this model doesn't consider the benefits to shareholders and some
>consumers of unethical behavior.
>
>Clearly, one reason WalMart has prospered is its unethical and sometimes
>illegal labor practices--from union busting to hiring undocumented workers
>and then refusing to pay them to various just-barely-legal ways of evading
>paying for workers' health benefits.  Another reason it's done so well is
>that it uses its enormous market share to pressure suppliers to reduce
>prices at any cost, thus encouraging equally exploitative labor practices in
>its suppliers.  Its size allows it to overwhelm competitors by short-term
>price adjustments, but once well-established, it can alter its pricing
>structure to maximize profits without reference to the good of the consumer
>or the well-being of its employees.
>
>The siren song of "Trust the Invisible Hand" sounds a lot more like "Pay no
>attention to the man behind the curtain" to me.
>
>Melynda Huskey
>
>
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>
>_____________________________________________________
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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>
>
>
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