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To those who have an unflinching belief in capitalism: What if Wal-Mart has problems in the next 5 years or so, and either goes away, or drastically retrenches? This may seem like a fantasy, but I have my reasons for concern. After all, both groceries and toys are loss-leaders to them, leaving the rest of the products to make up a lot of margin. I happen to think that, after a careful read of their annual reports, they may be profitable to the extent that they are growing and their high stock price gives them access to cheap capital. So let's just assume that I may be right. Who cares in Saint Paul? Well, if this happens 5 years from now, you can bet that a store with large loss-leaders will have changed the landscape. Wal-Mart may well take out a grocery store or two (Rainblow and Chub are close by) and could change the retail landscape further down University. Some of you will morn this, others will say it's just capitalism and the fittest survive. But then, back to the assumption. Just because they can kill off University Avenue by losing enough money does not mean they will stay there. The decisions are made in Arkansas, not here. Even if WMT stays healthy they may decide to close this store if it doesn't work out. Suddenly, we could be left with nothing. When everything is concentrated in one place, the possibility of that one place failing becomes a big issue. Having a diverse market of many places is a situation where any one can go down and we're a bit sad, but not devastated. When the One dies, we're screwed. Or, in this case, Midway could be screwed. And that's the difference between a faith in capital, which is fickle, and a faith in markets, which are dynamic. A well functioning market includes choice, and the ability to trade off convenience and quality and price by free individuals. Capitalism does NOT necessarily give you that. Capitalism often tends towards monopoly, since that is the most efficient use of capital. Monopoly has a large number of problems. I will agree that free markets are good for a free society, and vice versa. I will never agree that capitalism is the same as a free market. A free market can "break" because there are always barriers to entry and bad information and people don't just pick up and sell their houses the moment things get bad (and when they do get bad, they don't turn around quickly). These are places where some level of insurance that insures the continuation of a free market is called for. Back to Wal-Mart for a moment. Will we have any control at all over what they do? No. Oh well, I suppose, but that should bother everyone -- and should give us reason to think about their practices and how they will fit in to a vibrant and free market. And the answer to that is that Wal-Mart has consistantly shown that they HATE a vibrant free market, and that they take any number of loss-leaders to kill competition. That's why I hate Wal-Mart, and won't shop there. They suck. They are against everything I believe in. And I believe in free markets and a vibrant economy in the city of Saint Paul. Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://tcfreenet.org/people/hare Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts http://www.harmonycedar.com _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
