I liked this quote from one of Sowell's article: "Wal-Mart has done more for poor people than any ten liberals, at least nine of whom are almost guaranteed to hate Wal-Mart."
I would perhaps change "liberals" to "liberal politicians" or "liberal policies." Because I know some liberals who do some things for poor people. Conservatives too. Even some libertarians.
But have any of us done as much for poor people as Wal-Mart? That's a good discussion question.
For the full article, go here. There are other such nuggets within.
2 comments:
short run: lower prices for poor people (always).
long run: kills small businesses and provides poor people with really crappy jobs.
JoHat: What "small business" is going to offer the stuff that Walmart sells?? Why would a small business even WANT to sell mass quantities of Oreos, light bulbs, deodorant, and Miley Cyrus t-shirts? Walmart isn't doing anything that small business is trying to break into. Small businesses have costs that create prices that poor people could not afford under any circumstances, for example, high costs of frequently shipping smaller inventory.
Small businesses will succeed if they have original products (whether a service or a good.) Otherwise competition will kill it whether there's a Walmart in your town or not.
And in regards to "crappy jobs," when you don't have any other options, crappy is good enough (if only for now.)
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