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Amazon Just Made Shopping at Whole Foods Cheaper (businessinsider.com)
Whole Foods just got less expensive. From a report: On Monday, the day that Amazon's $13.7 billion acquisition of the grocer went through, prices on certain Whole Foods items immediately dropped. On Friday, Business Insider visited a Whole Foods location in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, and checked the prices on 15 items (including a few variations on similar items) mentioned by the companies. The total cost of the basket on Friday -- pre-acquisition -- was $97.76. On Monday, we returned to the Gowanus Whole Foods and checked back in on the same items. This time, the total cost of the 15 items was $75.85. That's a nearly 23% drop in the total cost. Whole Trade Banana: 30 cents (Price dropped to $0.49 a pound from $0.79). Lean Ground Beef: $2 (Price dropped to $4.99 a pound from $6.99). Local Grass-Fed 85% Lean Ground Beef: $4 (Price dropped to $6.99 a pound from $10.99). Four-pack of Organic Avocado: $0 (Price stayed at $6.99 for a pack of four). Hass Avocados: $1.01 (Price dropped to $1.49 each from $2.50) for instance.
I missed the part in the article where it mentioned the new technologies they are utilizing to achieve this price reduction.
Do we really need grocery store slashvertisements?
If food is this cheap, people won't see the value in socialism...
Oh? Well in that case, I suppose the government should stop subsidizing farmers. What's that? You dont know shit about agriculture? Oh my.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Total tax rate for average person in the US is lower than most European countries... but not by much.
VAT obviously higher than Sales Tax over here but made up in other ways.
But what do Europeans get for slightly more taxes?
Public Healthcare (lower infant mortality, fewer chronic diseases and high expected lifespan).
Clean-efficient public transport.
More parks and public spaces in urban areas.
All schools properly funded, not just ones in areas with wealthy residents.
Lots... lots... more...
I'd trade slightly higher taxes if it meant the perks that you get in Europe... ... of course, higher taxes in the US means more money to spend on the military, not on anything useful.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Yes, it is. Specifically monopolies are one of the oldest and best-understood failings of the free market. As soon as you drive the competition out of business, there's no longer a free market, and you reap the rewards of being the only provider. Meanwhile no new competition arises, because everyone knows that the minute they enter the market the monopolist can drop prices long enough to drive you out of business, so trying to compete is just an exercise in throwing away your startup investment, which could have been better spent entering a market not dominated by a monopolist.
Capitalism and the free market are social technologies, not holy edicts. Only a fool ignores their very real failings while clinging to an idealized fantasy.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.