Tag Archives: capitalism

Never Rest

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I like Walmart. (There: I said it!) I do a lot of shopping there. Nobody else stocks some of the things I want, and when I get them at Walmart, I know the price won’t be lower anywhere else.

I also like Amazon. But from this article, I’m guessing that Walmart doesn’t.

The country’s largest retailer, which for years didn’t blink at would-be competitors, is now under such a threat from Amazon that it is frantically playing catch-up by learning the technology business, including starting @WalmartLabs at Walmart Global E-Commerce, its dot-com division.

Walmart is right to be concerned about how to have an effective online business. (Walmart.com is to Amazon.com as Walmart is to Nordstroms.)

Still, it’s interesting to see a company that’s trying to catch up instead of just flailing helplessly.

The lesson: never give up, never surrender. Never rest on your laurels. The beauty of the capitalist system is that it rewards the Amazon’s of the world that take on the Walmarts and beat them, not by complaining, but by delivering superior value.

Sarah Palin on Crony Capitalism

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I was delighted to read Sarah Palin’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. This piece deals with the topic of Crony Capitalism, which she also addressed in her September 3 Iowa speech:

… They talk endlessly about cutting government spending, and yet they keep spending more. They talk about massive unsustainable debt, and yet they keep incurring more. …

No, they don’t feel the same urgency that we do. But why should they? For them business is good; business is very good. Seven of the ten wealthiest counties are suburbs of Washington, D.C. Polls there actually—and usually I say polls, eh, they’re for strippers and cross country skiers—but polls in those parts show that some people there believe that the economy has actually improved. See, there may not be a recession in Georgetown, but there is in the rest of America.

I’m glad. This is a drum that needs beating, almost as much as the crony capitalists need beating. By continuing to address the topic, she sheds light on the source of some of our nation’s greatest troubles, and ways we can fix them. More light, I would say, than two months of silly #OWS self-indulgence. Good for her.