I agree with the first two paragraphs, but not the rest of it. Somewhere in US history, things changed. The average American is clearly accepting, if not loving, of Walmart and other big companies, otherwise they would not be the juggernauts they are today. There would not be over 3800 Walmarts in the USA alone if we loved small and hated big.
We have a love hate relationship w/ our captains of industry. We glorify their rise and then sue them into a corner and call them robber barrons when they get too big. I would say walmart is reaching its tipping point. MS has passed it and spends most of their revenues on lawyers. Walmart is close behind. As of now they get sued every 5 minutes.
I think that's sufficiently explained by noting bigness makes you more worth suing, and the associated power and high stakes tempt you to do stuff that deserves suing.
Nobody makes scathing documentaries about Burger King, Target or Ford. McDonalds, Wal-Mart and GM are the lightning rods for our hatred of bigness. The smaller guy's legal fees are also way lower in relation to their size than their bigger counterparts. If you have an economist login check this out:
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E...
Comments
I agree with the first two paragraphs, but not the rest of it. Somewhere in US history, things changed. The average American is clearly accepting, if not loving, of Walmart and other big companies, otherwise they would not be the juggernauts they are today. There would not be over 3800 Walmarts in the USA alone if we loved small and hated big.
We have a love hate relationship w/ our captains of industry. We glorify their rise and then sue them into a corner and call them robber barrons when they get too big. I would say walmart is reaching its tipping point. MS has passed it and spends most of their revenues on lawyers. Walmart is close behind. As of now they get sued every 5 minutes.
I think that's sufficiently explained by noting bigness makes you more worth suing, and the associated power and high stakes tempt you to do stuff that deserves suing.
Nobody makes scathing documentaries about Burger King, Target or Ford. McDonalds, Wal-Mart and GM are the lightning rods for our hatred of bigness. The smaller guy's legal fees are also way lower in relation to their size than their bigger counterparts. If you have an economist login check this out: http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E...
Americans do hate WalMart. But they still shop there.