[Vision2020] Wal-Mart - was Doug Jones Says It Clearly

[Donovan Arnold]

Joe,
  
  "What would constitute evidence against the claim that the free market           always yields the best economic result?"
  
  Well Joe, there is plenty of evidence that a completely unregulated  market would not always yield a desirable result for all peoples. Just  as there is evidence that over-regulating a free market drives prices  up, reduces production and eliminates jobs.
  
 The economy has  grown stronger since Wal-Mart has come into the picture. The wealth of  the nation has grown exponentially with Wal-Mart. Unemployment has gone  down. This is evidence that Wal-Mart is not destroying the economy but  more likely generating wealth.
  
 I do agree that Wal-Mart has  reduced the number of small, locally owned stores that have refused to  specialize in items or services that major retailers do not provide.  Just as farmers reduced in number over the last 120 years, so will the  number of retailers as the retail business starts to adopt modern  technology into their inventory, transaction, distribution, and  purchasing methods. 
  
 You also refuse to understand that all  of the rhetoric you are espousing is stuff manufactured by union  organizations and organizations like ACORN, that pay less than Wal-Mart.
  
  Take Care,
  
  _DJA
  
joekc at adelphia.net wrote:                                        Donovan,        
          What would constitute evidence against the claim that the free market  always yields the best economic result? Certainly, no matter what I  offer as evidence you could always give a similar reply. But this could  indicate that your faith in the free market is based on some kind of  abstract, a priori reasoning as opposed to any actual empirical data.
--
Joe Campbell

---- Donovan Arnold   wrote:

=============
Joe,

Do you have any evidence that KB           Toys shut down in the mall because of Wal-Mart and not other factors?

  I claim that it did not. KB Toys has had to close hundreds of stores  throughout the country. Many of these stores in cities and towns that  do not even have a Wal-Mart.

My understanding is that KB Toys  shut down these stores because of greed. They got rid of  under-preforming stores and 3,000 jobs so their stock value would go up.

_DJA



joekc at adelphia.net wrote: Gary,
I  didn't think Mr. Schou's analogy blew but here is a real world example  of an inferior business beating out a superior competitor. The mall  used to have a toy store: Kay-Be Toys, or something like that. I went  there frequently when my son was younger and my wife let me spoil him  more. Wal-Mart drove Kay-Bee Toys out of business. Kay-Be Toys had a  far superior selection of toys and was by any set of standards a better  toy store than Wal-Mart. (Neither are as good as Hodgins Drug Store but  that's another issue.) What happened was that kids go to toy stores  with their parents but parents buy other things besides toys, things  that are not sold at Kay-Be Toys. In short, Wal-Mart offers low-cost  and convenience. That is it. It is 'superior' to other stores for these  two reasons only. But that is enough to drive out some businesses. Once  those businsesses leave, the folks in Moscow will have fewer choices,  not more choices.

You note that "many communities that are  co-existing with the worlds largest retailer to the betterment of its  residents." But many are not. It was noted in Tom Trail's post that two  communities like ours were "sucked dry" after a Super Wal-Mart moved  in. For the sake of argument suppose that 98 communities like ours were  not sucked dry. Would you take a pill that had only a 2% chance of  killing you if you didn't need it and you were getting along fine  without it? I don't think so. I love Moscow and low-cost and  convenience are not enough reason for me to risk sucking it dry.


--
Joe Campbell



---- "g.           crabtree" wrote:

=============
Mr. Schou, Your analogy           blows. It seems clear to me that you have very
little understanding           of how an 'all in" bet works but rather than educate
you on           the finer points of poker allow me to propose an analogy of my own. A
  player comes to the game and bluffs outrageously each and every hand. Soon,
          his fellow gamblers see him for what he is and call him. His weak           hands are
revealed, his resources dwindle and very soon he is out           of the game.

This appears to be the tactic of the common garden           variety wal-mart
opponent. Exclaim loudly how WM will be the           ruination of civilization and
will bring about the heat death of           the universe and so on. When folks see
that there are many           communities that are co-existing with the worlds largest
retailer           to the betterment of its residents our protester is revealed as at
          best, wrong and at worst, a dupe.

Getting back to the original           heart of the discussion, hows about some real
world examples of           inferior business' beating out superior competitors. I'll
be           waiting, watching the pages of my calendar flit by.

gc


  ----- Original Message -----
From: "Andreas Schou"
To: "g.           crabtree"
Cc: ;
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 4:48 PM
          Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Doug Jones Says It Clearly


>You           are right about my confidence in a free market. Perhaps you could give
  >me a few examples where an inferior business beat out a superior one.

  Let me use a poker analogy. If I had a trillion dollars, played poker
for a           living, and won every poker game I played by going "all in" on
  every hand, would I be the best poker player that ever lived? Hint:
no, I           would not.

This is Wal*Mart's business model: saturate the           market, make
monopsonic agreements with suppliers, and run as thin           a margin as
possible in new stores until all the other business           goes under. Is
this a good business strategy? Yes. Does it           contribute to market
efficiency -- which is generally how a           "superior business" is
understood to work? No. It does           not.

-- ACS



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