Et Tu, Walmart?

The question of how unregulated capitalism is treating me reminded me of Alexander the Great. Most people I’ve talked to learn that Alexander was a charismatic and brave young man who created an empire by virtue of his planning and command. This sparkly narrative would be received quite differently by people in Egypt and other areas he conquered. This example is to illustrate that the answer to the question is a matter of perspective.

What follows is a leading question, but it gets at some of the perspective in capitalism. Is a business offering sale prices because they would like to lower their profit margin, or is due to pressure in their niche or the goal of providing pressure? How do I fit into this? Well, I’ve noticed that I’m quick to enjoy a sale or discount that benefits me out, and even quicker to complain about high prices that benefit someone else. Rarely do I stop to think about the implications of being a price taker when the price is a sale. Why would something be on sale?

Economix brings to mind the fascinating piece of market research that states when people see two items, priced at $300 and $400, a bulk of people will purchase the $300 item. If only the $300 item is offered the bulk of people that previously purchased it will now refrain from purchasing it. Their perspective was one of choice and one of finding a deal.

Global markets. Good or bad? The same factory that harms the environment employs people locally before goods are exported. When I order a pack of V-neck shirts on amazon for a price lower than what’s offered in stores what have I done? Well, to start, if my purchase at Amazon is bad Target or Marshalls (large stores, not family owned) I feel no remorse. Yet, I’ve assisted with Amazon’s slow market domination, which could come back to bite me in the ass one day if enough competitors are lost. The next question I think of the courier that brought these shirts to my door in just a few business days. Good for the employed UPS driver, bad for the fossil fuel using UPS truck. From here, I don’t enough about cotton sourcing and ethical-sustainable labor practices to make many remarks, but you could apply this to the rest of the supply chain. The portrayal of large business in Economix troubled me, it seemed to portray size as a good indicator of poor practice.

Praxair is a company I both love and depend on. Praxair, or Prax as I learned to call it growing up, provides high quality specialty gas mixtures, offering medical quality products in addition to ultra high purity products for industrial application. Praxair is why I have any money to give to Erik Kahler. Professionally, I see Prax trucks delivering to labs here and bulk tanks labeled as Prax at the hospital. Now, in terms of size. The market cap of Prax is 41.43 billion dollars. The market cap of Walmart is 253.56 billion. I find this fascinating. Praxair provides oxygen to patients, mixtures to labs for their instruments, and acetylene to welders. Walmart, on the other hand, provides low quality shit made in other countries (I would suggest with questionable labor ethics). Even if Prax grew six-fold to approach the market cap of Walmart, I don’t believe that it would embrace the business practices and poor conduct of Walmart. Unregulated capitalism is leaving me feeling confused. The things I think I’d find to be monsters are better than those I thought to be good (read as Tom’s shoes). Another component I find interesting is the that the businesses purchasing from Prax don’t seem to care much about the concept of voting with your dollar (at least to my estimation, please correct me if I’m wrong). Whether it be a hospital administrator or factory foreman, cost savings are important. So, there is little ethical pressure on Prax and it still behaves ethically. Walmart, is largely ignored by people concerned with ethical purchasing, and it only grows annually. (Yes, at the expense of the government, so this isn’t a precise comparison). If seems that Walmart should eventually kill off the small businesses that practice ethically. Yet, Prax suggests that good things may still happen in our economy.

Finally, it isn’t lost on me that Alexander was Greek (Macedonian really) and Julius was Roman. The most popular Freek phrase in the US is “pita” so I elected to use what we all know.