Bad Customer Service: Why Do We Put Up With It?
Via Andrew Sullivan, I see that Daniel Indiviglio argues that "We like bad customer service." Actually, though, while he states it, he doesn't really argue that at all. Rather, he argues that we're not willing to pay more for good customer service and thus provide no incentive to companies to provide it. Let's say you have two options for a flight from ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 7, 2009 08:45
Wal-Mart Supports Mandatory Health Coverage (Out of Kindness, I Suppose)
Michael Tomasky is stoked that Wal-Mart has come out in support of government's mandating business provide health insurance for all employees. His explanation, however, is curious: There's got to be a fascinating story behind the "why." Wal-Mart would never acknowledge this, but there seems to me little doubt that all the pressure campaigns over the years, the documentary films ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 1, 2009 10:31
Obama Snubs Sarkozy with Chirac Overture?
Fresh off the heels of snubbing Gordon Brown by not holding a joint press conference with him and giving him a gift that could have been purchased at Wal-Mart, Barack Obama has annoyed Nicolas Sarkozy by sending a mash note to former French president Jacques Chirac asserting that, "I am certain that we will be able to work together, in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 23, 2009 10:16
Adolf Hitler Birthday Cake Rejected
Young Adolf Hitler Campbell was denied a birthday cake by his local supermarket and had to go to WalMart instead. [caption id="attachment_28926" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Heath Campbell, left, with his wife Deborah and son Adolf Hitler, 3, pose in Easton, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008. Deborah and her husband Heath attempted to buy a birthday cake for their son at a near ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 17, 2008 16:08
Black Friday Madness Madness
Two people were killed by gunplay at a California Toys R Us yesterday, joining the trampled Wal-Mart worker in New York. Naturally, this is bringing out condemnations of America's crazy appetite for stuff. Mark Silva: Lay a little blame at the feet of the government, for exhorting Americans to spend more money and shake off that recession gripping the nation. Lay some ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 29, 2008 08:18
Wal-Mart Worker Dies in ‘Black Friday’ Trampling
As seems to happen every year, a trampling incident has occurred as a result of a "Black Friday" sales promotion gimmick. This time, a man has died. [caption id="attachment_27979" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Police tape surrounds a Wal-Mart that was the scene of a deadly stampede. (NY Daily News)"][/caption] A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 28, 2008 13:43
Walmart’s New Logo
Wal-Mart is now Walmart and they've got a happy, shiny, new logo: The "Save Money. Live Better." branding is probably a step forward. I'm rather dubious about the non-hyphenated name change, although that was actually the store's original name. The logo is an improvement over its very dated predecessor but I share Armin's reaction of, "Really? This is the best Walmart ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2008 08:25
130 Degrees in the Shade
Despite the mythology of soldiers "carrying 40 pounds of body armor in 130-degree temperatures" during their tours in Iraq, David Sessions explains, "the highest temperature ever recorded in Asia is 124 degrees—in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia." Further, since there's little humidity in the desert, "the heat index won't be much higher than the actual temperature." Veterans of the Vietnam war also ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 14, 2007 16:55
Hillary Clinton Returning Hsu’s $850,000
Hillary Clinton will give back $850,000 in bundled funds raised, apparently illegally, by Norman Hsu. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedly violating election laws. Clinton, D-N.Y., previously had planned only to give to charity $23,000 she received from Hsu for ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 11, 2007 07:02
The Reputation Effect
One of the things about people who seem biased against markets is that they seem to ignore the effect reputations can have on helping to ensure that markets work. If a firm builds up a reputation that is costly then that can act as a signal to consumers that the firm is producing goods of a given level of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 16, 2007 11:52
Stop iPhone Tyranny Now!
Salon's Farhad Manjoo notes the fight of one brave lawmaker to end the impossible tyranny of Apple and AT&T over the Must Have Gadget of the Century, the indispensable iPhone. Edward Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the committee, began the affair by holding up the phone and hailing its "sheer brilliance and wizardry," noting that "undoubtedly consumers will cherish this ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 18, 2007 16:13
Harry Potter Books – Cheap!
The last Harry Potter book will be a runaway bestseller but will likely not make booksellers and money, Reuters reports. Millions of people will descend on stores for a copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in July, but deep discounts mean many will struggle to turn a profit from the jamboree. "Everywhere you go there is huge, ridiculous discounting by ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 11, 2007 10:51
No One Makes You Read Bad Books
Alex Tabarrok has en extensive review of Tom Slee's No One Makes You Shop at Wal-Mart, which he dubs "the best of the anti-market books: it is well written, serious, and knowledgeable about economics." The next several paragraphs demonstrate why "best of the anti-market books" is faint praise, indeed, and makes the description "well written, serious, and knowledgeable about ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 18, 2007 09:57
War Costs, Affluence, and Democracy
The inflation-adjusted cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have now exceeded that of the Vietnam War, Lori Montgomery reports in the business section of WaPo, but the cost has been virtually unnoticed because of our relative affluence. The global war on terror, as President Bush calls the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and related military operations, is about to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 9, 2007 07:49
Wal-Mart TV
Wal-Mart's PR firm has sent me a release noting that Wal-Mart has a new television show called "In Front With Wal-Mart." Somehow, I don't believe I'll be adding this to my TiVo list.Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 30, 2007 15:48
