The Brothers Austrian

Nickel and Dimed vs. Life at Wal-Mart by Charles Platt

I was recently having a conversation about insurance costs with a friend who is a senior at Rutgers University. Somehow the conversation digressed to the topic of Wal-Mart. The Rutgers student listed all the classic knocks on Wal-Mart: they treat their employees like a crap, pay them nothing, do nothing good for American manufacturing. This commentary sounded all too familiar. My freshman year at Syracuse University I had similar opinions of Wal-Mart after reading Nickel and Dimed.  My very first college paper was based on the book (man, if I could only find that assignment to post here). Nickel and Dimed is essentially a tale of how hard it can be to live off minimum wage and how companies exploit laborers … it’s modern day, The Jungle. After reading the author’s tale I had a classic case of rational ignorance. The story seemed to make a well researched “Wal-Mart is evil” argument, so was it really worth my time to find other sources on working life at Wal-Mart? The books thesis was in line with what seemed to academics a consensus view; at the time that good enough for me. About two years later I watched what I consider to be one of the best South Park episodes ever: Something Wal-Mart This Way Comes. Again…Wal-Mart… evil.

Fast forward 7 years to a time where I am more in tune with various economic schools of thought and viewpoints. I came a across a podcast on Econtalk with Russ Roberts in which he was interviewing a man who was retired editor. Roberts’ guest had decided to take up position at Wal-Mart and subsequently written various articles on his experiences (Life at Wal-Mart by Charles Platt). Here is a synopsis of the podcast:

Charles Platt, author and journalist, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts what it was like to apply for a job at Wal-Mart, get one, and work there. He discusses the hiring process, the training process, and the degree of autonomy Wal-Mart employees have to change prices. The conversation concludes with a discussion of attitudes toward Wal-Mart.

What Platt had to say seemed to make sense.  His points were further supported by Robert’s commentary on the general economics of Wal-Mart. I started piecing my Wal-Mart experiences together in my head. All in all, I would have to say I enjoy Wal-Mart. One stop shop, low prices, and great service. So, is there enough evidence that Wal-Mart exploits it labor for me to shun Wal-Mart?

The stigma is that Wal-Mart workers are treated like crap and are unhappy. After hearing about Platt’s experience, I now pay attention to the demeanor of Wal-Mart employees when I shop there. From my experience going to Wal-Mart, their employees, so far, have seemed pretty happy in general. Now, after reading Nickel and Dimed there were a few years that shopping there gave me the heaby jeebies but I didn’t shop there any less. There has always seemed to be some a disconnect, for me, between the experience that I read about in Nickel and Dimed and my personal experiences at Wal-Mart.

I would guess that good portion of recent liberal arts graduates have read some version of a “Nickel and Dimed”. I think Nickel and Dimed misses the human aspects of why people work at Wal-Mart, in other words, what their living situation before the enter employment with the company.  Therefore, it tends to mislead readers into believing that most other Wal-Mart employees dislike their job as much as the author of the book did. Certainly there are people struggling to get by that work at Wal-Mart, but is it right to pin the blame for their struggles on Wal-Mart? I think not. The Platt article may change your mind on Wal-Mart and it may not, but either way it is worth getting another viewpoint on the “Evil Wal-Mart” story that seems to so prevalent in university lecture halls across the country.

MisesBeliever General austrian school, Charles Ploot, Economics, education, Nickel and Dimed, Russ Roberts, working at Wal-Mart

MisesBeliever Uncategorized austrian school, Change, obama, Rand Paul, ron paul

The title of this posting refers to Cato’s Letter Number 4, by Thomas Gordon. Writing in 1720, Gordon notes the importance of restoring the credit markets in England, but bemoans the idea “that any thing ought to be done to repair the losses, occasioned by folly and covetousness, out of the estates of those, who always foresaw, who always opposed this mighty mischief; much less at the further expence of the honour and trade of the nation.”  Gordon actually calls for the “necks” and “money” of those responsible for the crisis, today it is the calls of the Austrian School for bankruptcy.

Very good Mr. Gordon, you just became relevant in the 21st century. Cato’s Letters (written by Gordon along with John Trenchard) represent some of the most influential 18th century political theory. Murray Rothbard mentions Gordon and Trenchard along with Algernon Sidney and John Locke as the most influential libertarian leaning philosophers during colonial times. But in Cato’s Letter Number 4, we see more than the ideological origins of our founding fathers. We see a true understanding of macroeconomic policy that made people like Ludwig von Mises and Henry Hazlitt shake their heads at the missed historical lesson in the macroeconomic policies of the early 20th century.

Again, to Gordon, “If our money be gone, thank God, our eyes are left: Sharpened by experience and adversities we can see through disguises, and will be no more amused with moon-shine.”

Or so we hope…

Teacherman Uncategorized algernon sidney, austrian school, cato's letters, colonial, henry hazlitt, john locke, john trenchard, libertarian, ludwig von mises, murray rothbard, thomas gordon

Welcome to the Brothers Austrian.  This blog will address economic and political issues.  Your editors are two brothers, and their friends, who see things from a libertarian and Austrian school of economics lens.  I am Teacherman, a teacher of high school history at a independent school in the US.  My brother is Bondsman and is knee deep in some of these issues working for a Bond firm in New York, City.

Teacherman General austrian school, brothers, Economics, libertarian, political