Wal-Mart should shut down all of its operations in Maryland. Now.
I recently proposed at the Laissez Faire Books Blog that Wal-Mart shut down all of its operations in Maryland. I explained that they should do this immediately, in protest of a Draconian new state law mandating how much they spend on the health care insurance of their employees.…
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Article comments
26 - JohnnyTwoTone
At the end of the day, sitting around quoting garbage and using big words don't change the fact that WalMart pays the least they possibly can, even though the Walton family are among the 3-4 richest people in the world(one died I think, not sure how many there are now).
Anyway, great calculations for full time work, have you checked out how many people are actually full time at Wal-mart....didn't think so.
Sweat shops....better than child prostitution...now there is a great argument. Do you know a lot of these people's lives would be changed unbelievably by another .25/hour. maybe they could buy a table to eat their food at, or eat something other than rice. But hey, you just keep getting fatter eating your McDonalds, what the hell does anyone who is not you matter.
27 - Dave Nalle
At the end of the day, sitting around quoting garbage and using big words don't change the fact that WalMart pays the least they possibly can, even though the Walton family are among the 3-4 richest people in the world(one died I think, not sure how many there are now).
The least they have to pay would be $5.15 an hour under current law and they start workers at $8.50 and pay an average of over $10 per hour. So they hardly pay the 'least they possibly can'. That's just a load of bull.
Anyway, great calculations for full time work, have you checked out how many people are actually full time at Wal-mart....didn't think so.
I'm fully aware they have a lot of part time employees. Part time work is what it is. Most of those workers are also homemakers or students or have a second job. No one is forcing them to work part time. WalMart certainly doesn't have any reason to hire parttimers instead of fulltimers since they don't give either group insurance benefits.
DAve
28 - David M. Brown
"At the end of the day, sitting around quoting garbage and using big words don't change the fact that WalMart pays the least they possibly can..."
At the beginning, middle and end of the day, decrying the fact that persons pursue their economic self-interest does not render that pursuit evil. The issue is how they pursue wealth. Mugging people you want to take stuff from is evil. Peaceful trade is not. If it were not for selfish economic pursuits, we'd still all be back in the caves. TwoTone has no answer, so he resorts to sarcasm and venom. But sarcasm and venom are not a substitute for economic and moral knowledge, nor for moral virtue.
Mr. TwoTone, of course, always pays more than he has to for everything. With the single exception of my own work, of course. I haven't seen a dime from him yet, though clearly he's a fan.
29 - lumpy
sarcasm, venom and don't forget attrocious grammar.
30 - Baronius
David, I agree with your argument. But as a practical point, have you ever been to Walmart? The employees exhibit that inefficiency and overt contempt for the customer which are the trademarks of low-wage employees. I wonder if Walmart wouldn't be better off paying its people better, and cutting its workforce by 10%.
31 - Maurice
Dave Nalle #25
Funny as hell!
....wait, it's too true to be funny!
Damn!
32 - Bliffle
Corporations have had their ups and downs over the years. A hundred years ago they routinely screwed minority shareholders and crushed competition with monopolies, to the extent that government regulation was required to avoid a real socialist revolution in the USA. Fifty years ago their reps were enhanced as corps became the hope of middleclass wageearners who saw them as communal providers of healthcare and steady employment. But the ascendancy of the corp pirates and other scoundrels who are draining the Blue Sky value from corps has demonstrated that the simple-minded idea of 'market forces' simply doesn't inhibit bad behaviour: it's good business to bribe officials and cheat shareholders becuase the fines are so (relatively) small that there is a very high ROI.
Plus, the more imaginative among us have discovered simple ways to manipulate corporate privilege to assure that we Socialize The Risk And Privatize The Profit. For example, it is quite common now for large operating corps to be owned by a holding company that siphons off profits every year and leaves themselves free of liability, thus ending the idea of Retained Profits for future growth.
It is not only large corps that can perform these manipulations. Even a small capitalist can construct a series of financial redoubts to insulate himself from the vagaries of markets and other externalities, while retaining whatever profits are made.
33 - Dave Nalle
And don't forget incorporating your company in the Grand Caymans and thereby avoiding US taxes.
Dave