Business People Are Terrible At Governing

[_EAllusion]

And the biggest competition of all is the internet. If Walmart is bad, then Amazon and Ebay are truly the spawn of Satan for all the damage they have done to small and big retailers! Yet when was the last time you saw an anti-Amazon backlash, or people marching in the streets to protest Amazon expanding into a new market category? At least Walmart pays into local sales tax coffers. Amazon only just started collecting state sales tax for CA, and the local cities won't be seeing a penny of that money.

?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com_controversies

Amazon is developing a stranglehold on the distribution market for online purchase orders and books in particular. There's a huge push-back against this in the form of lawsuits and protests in the business world. I think it is a bit overblown, but there is a wave of anti-monopoly concern developing over Amazon.

You might want to listen to this:

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/07/12/the-amazon-economy

Amazon has recently given in on the tax issue in order to placate the government over its ever tightening grip on the back end of online commerce.

[_Bob Loblaw]

I was listening to a RadioWest program about alcohol in Utah, and they mentioned that in the 1950s, the big breweries started killing off the smaller local breweries in the same way that Wal-Mart has killed off a lot of local retailers. The answer for breweries is simple: Provide a better product than the mass-produced stuff, and though you may not have the volume you used to, people will pay more for better stuff. I think that's essentially the solution here, too.

[_subgenius]

So here's the next question. Suppose I grant you that Walmart is "evil", treats their employees terribly, gets unfair advantages from local governments, uses shopper psychology to get people to buy stuff, drives small businesses out of business unfairly, ruins local economies, adds to the trade imbalance between the US and China etc....

What is the solution to the problem?

viewtopic.php?p=642635#p642635

well, some solutions are slowly creeping in at the local level. For example, the size of a typical Wal-Mart has certain obstacles it must overcome in order to actually be constructed. Wal Mart has responded by attempting to make their massive parking lots more drainage friendly or more tree friendly, etc... or they have been burdened with extra paving and sidewalk improvements within their immediate area...but such financial challenges are easily overcome by such an entity - as there are many ways to dilute and pass along the costs.
The more considerable solution is that local municipalities adjust their policies to encourage a more diverse business profile while discouraging operations like Wal-Mart. We already see that Wal-Mart is trying to downsize their stores, via a new model, in order to offer a more palatable store...as if they are trying to pass one over as a down home mom-n-pop type of store....which is fine and is a step in the right direction - and should be further encouraged by local authority, but it has little impact on their policies. Again, most big business will simply behave in a manner which they are allowed to behave, and ultimately they will always follow the consumer's wallet and purse. So, therefore the solution must surely have that carrot at the end of its stick.

[_EAllusion]

The solution to Wal*Mart not being given competitive advantages by governments in my opinion, is for the government to stop doing that. That requires changes in voting behavior and - really - a cultural shift in the public so they no longer see the local government's role as drawing commerce to the area. I think it would be preferable if governments gave small businesses advantages over the Wal*Marts of the world, but I strongly would prefer that does not happen either.

[_cinepro]

The solution to Wal*Mart not being given competitive advantages by governments in my opinion, is for the government to stop doing that. That requires changes in voting behavior and - really - a cultural shift in the public so they no longer see the local government's role as drawing commerce to the area. I think it would be preferable if governments gave small businesses advantages over the Wal*Marts of the world, but I strongly would prefer that does not happen either.

I agree. I feel the same way about something that is a little more obvious: local government subsidies for sports arenas.

On the subject of "competition" and putting small businesses out of business, what do you see as the solution? My suburb of Los Angeles recently got an Apple store at the local mall, and within a year, several local independent "Mac" shops had closed. Is this better or worse than what Walmart does, and is there a solution?

Is Apple evil for putting local mom-and-pop computer stores out of business?