supermarkets

Farmer Jack's used to be the only supermarket chain operating in Detroit. When Farmer Jack's went out of business, they sold their supermarkets to Kroger. Kroger decided to buy all of the stores except for the ones in the city of Detroit. This left Detroit without any supermarkets.

So Detroit has no supermarkets. Why? It seems like at least one supermarket could make it in a city of 800,000 people. So why didn't Kroger pick up any of those stores? Well to start remember that grocery store operate on the slimmest profit margins in retail. So you have to sell a lot of stuff consistently and not have any extra operating costs. So what did Kroger say?

1. Theft: Theft rates are significantly higher in Detroit than anywhere else. That's a big cost and security gaurds are expensive.

2. High slip and fall liability: Detroit residents are more likely to sue than others. This is obviously a big cost.

3. Food Stamp cycles: food stamps aren't really stamps, and when those little cards get refilled by the government on the 1st of the month everybody goes out to buy groceries. This cycle makes it harder to do business.

This kind of thing fascinates me. So what can we learn from this.

1. Crime breeds poverty. Lots of people think the reverse is true, and they are certainly mutually reinforcing. Rudy Guliani's one great insight was that if you stop crime, you reduce poverty.

2. Lawsuits are dumb. This is the same kind of "They owe me something" mentality that leads unions to destroy this state. They also hurt the entire society.

3. Relying on the government to fix poverty doesn't work. (ok that's a stretch...but it doesn't)

On Unions

This state's economy is a joke. There aren't any jobs.

Why?

Last week GM employees went on strike. they all got up and walked off the job. GM can't make a profit because it already pays 30 dollars an hour more an hour for labor than Toyota.

This week Chrysler employees are going to do the same.

There aren't any teaching jobs, not because teachers aren't needed, but because schools can't afford to hire new people. They can't just hire new people at a lower salary because the union would strike.

The state employees union started a lawsuit against the state when it shut down for four hours because lawmakers couldn't agree on a budget.

It's a joke. Every day when I'm driving to school I listen to the news, and every day on the local news there's some story about how unions are ruining the state economy.

If I were in charge of GM I'd fire all union employees and start over. And I'd move most of my production to Mexico. Sure it might cost a lot at first, but it would save the company in the long run

Is that Christian?

Colorado Christian University recently fired one of their professors. He openly questioned one of the schools core tenets. He denied a key aspect of its theology. And so he got fired.

The interesting part is what got him fired:

He said that capitalism isn't an essential part of christianity. He didn't say we need communism, or lets all go out and join a collective. He just said that capitalim isn't a "Christian" idea...as in it doesn't come from the Bible.

Hmm...what does that even mean

I walked into the living room, and Adrienne was watching TV.

"Why did you go to India to study meditation?"

"I wanted to develop a lifelong relationship with the voice I met on the bathroom floor."