2006-08-03

Playing "Chicken" in "The Hog Butcher for the World"

Small retailers have long complained that big-box stores run them out of business, and they are right. The council's tactic, it seems, is to force the giants to make a choice: pay a premium wage because they exert an unfair advantage over smaller stores, or don't come to town at all.

1 comment:

Paul Hue said...

And consumers will pay more, and have less choice... and workers will have fewer jobs from which to choose. Consumers will drive to the subburbs for lower cost goods and greater variety, and workers will get jobs at the big box stores in the subburbs.

Meanwhile, where Nadir and I live, in the vacinity of Home Depot and Lowes, driving in any direction on any of the main roads, small "mom and pop" hardware stores continue to exist, specializing in what the dreaded "big box" stores do not. Why can't Nadir and other simply let free people negotiate trade amoungst themselves, without government regulations determining prices?