Mike Kinsey on Slate notes that KMart employees are now allowed to haggle over prices. He notes that with the Internet, merchants can instantaneously raise or lower prices to meet demand instead of industrial revolution style fixed prices. I've posted once or twice about haggling and standard prices and how in developing nations you can haggle over anything. Kinslet's article essentially argues that standard prices are a historical anamoly - if you are in an undeveloped nation, then you don't have the technology to develop reasonable standard prices. If you are in a high tech society, you have the ability to quickly change prices and still derive enough income to stay in busines. In the middel, like the US 1850-2000, prices are standardized. Fabio
