Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Contra the Long Tail: the Big, Fat Head, 2 Feb 2007
This is a fascinating book about a fascinating phase of capitalist history, and is an interesting antidote both to the luvvie new-economy out-of-posterior-blowing efforts such as Chris Anderson's The Long Tail and the Stage 1 Pol-Sci anti-capitalist dreck which usually passes for informed criticism of the corporate sector in these enlightened times.
Whereas there may be some mileage in the contention that the internet has permanently pushed the threshold of viable business down the Long Tail - thereby creating a virtuous circle of more demand, more choice and more diversity of supply, here is a barnstorming tale of the organisation that seems single-handedly to scotch that argument. If there were much merit in Chris Anderson's general thesis, it would be hard to explain how, in such a transparently open and competitive market as the United States, one retailer - one *low margin* retailer - can have gone from a standing start to a 30% market share of almost any business it has cared to be in, in the last 30 years. For Wal-Mart is the very essence of the Fat Head, that part of the market which is supposed to be fraying and deteriorating before our very visual display units.
There is some mileage in the Long Tail, to be sure - for every Wal-Mart, there's an Amazon.com - and the truth no doubt lies somewhere in the middle. What is fascinating is how Wal-Mart's position as a monopsony (a buy-side monopoly, in other words) has stressed the economy and traditional business models in hitherto unforeseen and unanticipated ways, but has not troubled the carefully framed anitrust laws.
Fishman's account is balanced: he has a healthy respect for the brilliance of Wal-Mart's model, the unrelenting execution of its business plan, and the beneficial (and not always quantified) effects it has had on the US domestic economy in the last thirty or more years.
But he is no proselyte: for every success story like Makin' Bacon's, a well-managed, successful company has been sent to the (er...) Wall by the monosponist's relentless quest for reduced margin, and Fishman covers these stories - together with some altogether unnerving information about the Wal-Mart effect on the global consumption (and husbandry) of Salmon - in unflinching detail.
My hunch is that a true monopsony can't last as a natural state of equilibrium in a market so dynamic and competitive as America's, and Fishman's well developed argument is that, indeed, we may already be seeing the decline of the Walton empire, so perhaps the doomier passages of the book are overstated and in a decade we may wonder what all the fuss was about.
Nevertheless, for an incisive, economically literate, and well balanced book about the pros and cons of American style corporate capitalism (wildly superior to, for example, Joel Bakan's simple-minded "The Corporation"), this book comes well recommended.
Olly Buxton
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Behind-the-scenes at secretive, powerful Wal-Mart , 3 April 2008
Most people are generally in favor of both a just society and low prices. So what are they to think about Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.? Is it the world's most rapacious retailer or a great place for a bargain? Does it rule its suppliers, forcing them to run overseas sweatshops to compete or does it spur more economical products? Does it pay rock bottom wages and relentlessly pursue profits, sales, market dominance and cheap goods, or does it provide rare relief for the consumer? The accusations sound daunting, unless you are a budget-weary customer. For many shoppers, these are uncomfortable contrasts. And whatever you think of Wal-Mart, you can't ignore it. With huge stores across the U.S. and worldwide, Wal-Mart, according to Charles Fishman, is not just "the world's most powerful company," it is an "economic ecosystem." Railing against it is like shaking your fist at a tsunami. Wal-Mart is nearly impervious to external impact, but Fishman has made it far more knowable. Given the debates it provokes, the impact of its policies and the price wars it wages, getAbstract welcomes this look behind Wal-Mart's shelves.
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by Naomi Klein
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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