On the subject of dynamic pricing as reflected in electronic shelf labels – which some states want to ban – MNB reader Donald C. Taylor wrote:
Probably a poor comparison and sure, the industries are different, but aren’t our local gas stations doing this exact same thing? Prices change, prices are digitally displayed roadside, the consumer decides. Repeat.
Fair point.
On the same subject, MNB reader Stacy McCoy wrote:
Every single politician that is fighting the electronic tags should be required to spend a minimum of 3 days retagging an entire store before they are allowed to cast a ballot. They clearly have no concept of how labor intensive and time consuming this is for the retail employees, and how those labor dollars and hours could be better spent keeping up the store shelves / store stock / interacting with customers… you know… selling stuff.
Just a thought from someone who has spent countless hours retagging store shelves.
Another fair point.
And, from yet another reader:
Another great commentary, you explained why the government can never run a business let alone a grocery store. Ms James thinks the grocer arbitrarily changes prices, it starts up or down with the farmer, the processor, storage costs, shipping costs, labor costs and fuel costs at all levels to name a few. All who touch the products we buy have to make money or why be in business. As you said, it’s capitalism. Anyone that has been around the grocery business for any length of time, knows the margins are razor thin. Efficiency, accuracy and timing are incredibly important.
The electronic price tags are long overdue, Walmart has had them, Kroger is implementing the tags at a tremendous expense per store. The consumer will receive prompt accurate pricing which will save money for the consumer.
The government needs to stick with what they run the best – the Post Office, the DMV, Social Security, Medicare.
On Monday, I took note of a Seattle Times report that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has departed his longtime home of Seattle for sunny Miami. According to the story, in making the announcement on social media, “the billionaire alluded to the business environment in Washington, where a measure that’s been dubbed a ‘millionaires tax’ came closer to final legislative approval on Tuesday, saying: ‘It is our hope that Washington will remain a place for business and entrepreneurship to thrive, creating essential opportunity for those in Seattle and the surrounding areas.’
“Schultz, 72, has a net worth of $3.5 billion, per Forbes, which is less than his 10-year high of almost $5 billion in 2019.”
I commented:
I’m sure Schultz – who seemed incapable of understanding the degree to which times had changed when he took back the Starbucks CEO role the third time (and reinforced the appearance of a Messiah complex that he evinced the second time he took back the job) – will be very happy in Miami. Lots of shuffleboard to play, and he can save some of those billions by going to Denny’s for the 4:30 pm dinner specials.
Here’s the thing. Starbucks has had Seattle’s DNA running throughout the company since its beginnings, and Schultz has been the beneficiary of that, exploiting its locational foundations for decades. I understand that the tax system can sometimes seem oppressive – nobody, including me, likes paying taxes.
But I have very little tolerance for really rich people, especially billionaires, who don’t want to pay their fair share and, quite frankly, aren’t willing to shoulder a little bit more of their state’s economic burdens as a way of showing gratitude for their good fortune. Yes, they’ve often worked hard to achieve what they have and amass their fortunes. But they’ve also had very good luck and usually supportive communities that have made them possible.
If you don’t like the tax system, be active in efforts to redirect priorities and achieve fairness. But don’t just bail. Be willing to accept the possibility that fairness is a concept that looks different for the vast majority of people than it does for billionaires. (And maybe, just maybe, if you are going to decamp a higher-tax state for lower tax state, show the grace to shut up about it.)
One MNB reader responded:
The issue with the WA “millionaire income tax” isn’t the wealthy getting hit. The tax income tax is portrayed as a tax on the wealthy but in fact there is zero trust the state legislature won’t be migrating downward to lower levels of income. The state has voted an income tax down 11 times. The politicians will have a sales tax, gas tax, capital gains, estate tax to name a few. This is creating a huge disadvantage to new or existing businesses. Howard is just the first to get out of Dodge!
But, from another reader:
Billionaires moving to Miami will get a shock, they never think that if there is no income tax then the Government must raise revenue with other taxes. Property tax is about 1% and sales tax is about 7%. Then there is the insurance: House insurance is outrageous (hurricanes), Flood insurance is outrageous (hurricanes), Car insurance is outrageous (hurricanes, theft, and uninsured drivers) and personal umbrellas are very costly. The legislature protects the insurance companies that have decided to stay but there is a subsidy – it was estimated that 30% of the insurance claims made after Hurricane Andrew were fraudulent. Customer service in restaurants is abysmal. Restaurant staff is being priced out of the local housing market due to the rising cost of housing caused by people moving in. Some have one-way commutes more than 2 hours. Miami has an 18-hour traffic jam that is only getting worse. I lived in South Florida including 10 years in Miami and visit 3 times a year. Which reminds me that the Miami airport is one of the worst airports I have ever used. Billionaires may have work arounds for the problems, but they cannot lead to a hassle-free life. And the era of “Cocaine Cowboys” has morphed into “Cartel Cash Flow” with the DEA saying that Miami has one of the largest amounts of cocaine seized in the US.
That pretty much reflects my experience in Miami – especially the airport.
I want to be clear about something. I actually have no problem with folks who move to lower tax states – most people don’t have so much money that a few percentage points of taxes paid won’t affect them.
We all make decisions like these that reflect our personal economics, our values, and our priorities. And in the vast majority of cases, what other people do is not really my business, and I shouldn’t pass judgement on them.
I live in Connecticut, which is a high tax state. Probably the only two US states that I would consider moving to (at least for the moment) would be California or Oregon, which also fall into that high-tax category. Not because I’m independently wealthy, but because I think the values and infrastructures of these three place best fit my own values and priorities. (Not that they’re perfect. Not by a long shot. But no place really is, and we all have to make choices. Plus, Mrs. Content Guy is here, and after almost 43 years of marriage, my real priority is living where she wants to live, and she doesn’t want to move to California or Oregon.)
But I digress.
My problem is with the billionaires – the oligarchs and plutocrats (and wannabes) who build businesses in places that largely have fed their needs and reflected their corporate images, who once they have amassed enormous fortunes get out of town so they can reduce their tax burdens. And then announce it on social media. I just think they should stick around, try to help fix the problems that they see, and help to support and fund the communities that nurtured them and their businesses.
To be clear, I also disagree with state millionaire/billionaire taxes. I just think they are politically stupid – they give rich people, who could and should be a natural resource for these communities, an excuse to move.
I also, by the way, disagree with some current efforts to revise tax laws so that low income people would not pay any income taxes. I think everyone should pay something – even if only fifty or a hundred bucks, just so they have some skin in the game, have a reason to vote and be informed about how that money is spent.
(By the way, I also think that every government – but especially the federal government – should issue an annual report to taxpayers. In the interest of transparency, it should issue an easily understood and digestible report in the style of a corporate annual report that highlights how much money the government took in and from whom, and how much it spent, along with all its rationales. It would be a clear statement of values and priorities. It would make us all far better informed.)
Got the following email from an MNB reader:
Shopping at my Costco here in Mesa, AZ. the other day I noticed the book table was gone. Only had one aisle end display of one book. Times they are a changing and it’s the subtle things that will be the strong undercurrent of that change. Looking forward to the human like robot next to the Roombas.
Probably not too far in the future.
The fact is, Costco began phasing out year-long book sales at most of its stores more than a year ago, offering a reasonable assortment of popular books only during the end-of-year holiday shopping season.
Doesn’t seem to have hurt Costco, which seems finely attuned to what its customers want and need. Also says something about the company that it was willing to walk away from a likely unproductive category that had been a mainstay of its offering for decades.
As they say, sacred cows make the best hamburgers.
Yesterday I drew your attention to a piece in The Atlantic about how beans are almost the perfect nutritional food, and commented:
Especially when they are red beans, made with rice, ham, peppers and plenty of Tabasco, and served with a cold beer. (I’m getting hungry just writing those words.)
Prompting an MNB reader to write:
I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico when beans and rice is a soft corn tortilla was part (and still is) of our daily diet. Combined they’re a complete protein and the add-ons are endless. Personal favorite is a fresh roasted and skinned green chili pepper and cheese. My dad was from the South so we also feasted on black eyed peas cooked with a large ham hock.
I’m so hungry now.
Same here. Thanks.
Got a number of emails following up on some what I talked about this week when looking back at our trip to Sedona and ther Grand Canyon.
I mentioned how I loved the Lisa Dahl-owned restaurants that we visited, and one MNB reader wrote:
My favorite of her places is Cucina Rustica. Try Pisa Lisa too!
Those are the two we didn’t hit. Next time. Though it is hard to imagine a better meal than we had at Mariposa, especially the amazing skirt steak with chimichurri sauce served on a bed of black beans.
And MNB reader Jon Berg wrote:
That was great to see a video from the Grand Canyon on the site this morning. Glad you enjoyed it and as always, it’s wonderful that you found some business inspiration there. I’ve been there a couple of times and find it equally impressive.
This made me think about a conversation I had with a Millennial not too long ago. This person is well traveled and has been to more countries than they can count. I asked if they had ever been to the Grand Canyon and the answer was “no”. But the explanation was, “it’s here in the US, so I can see that anytime”. We tend to forget what is in our own backyard sometimes, and sometimes we make the mistake of never investigating what is close to home. When I lived in Denver I was always surprised how many people I talked said they had never been to Rocky Mountain National Park or Pikes Peak. I suppose it makes sense in some ways, but your video today brought those conversations back to me. Now I live in California and was reminded by a real estate agent friend, “now you live where other people vacation”. I look at that as a good thing, though not everyone would I suppose.
Hopefully you’ve been to Yellowstone, Glacier, Sequoia, to name a few others. If not, please put them on your list of next stops. I always enjoy your POV and when it’s merged with something like the Grand Canyon, its even better.
Thanks. You’re too kind.
I’m with you on this. Distance is on our side, especially when it comes to places in our own backyards. But time never is, something I think about now that I’m in my 72nd year.
I’ve been to 49 states and six continents. There’s something inside me that tells me I really need to get to Alaska. And Antarctica.
I’ve also never been to Yellowstone, Glacier or Sequoia National Parks, nor to Bryce Canyon or Zion National Parks. Mrs. Content Guy has never been to Yosemite (though I have been – more than 50 years ago). So they’re definitely on our list. Maybe we’ll just put Spenser into the back of the SUV and just hit the road.
But I’ve also never been to the Statue of Liberty, which is about 40 miles from my house. We’re going to do something about that this spring.
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