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Competition?
November 25, 2006
Oklahoma is Anti-Capitalist!
Well, not really. Most Oklahomans pride themselves on being extremely anti-tax and pro-growth, true tenents of Capitalism. Something I read today, however, makes me question that ethic.
In 1949, Oklahoma passed a law regarding the prices that consumers pay for goods.
It’s called the Unfair Sales Act. The Act prohibits retailers from selling merchandise below cost, and, on top of that, requires AT LEAST a 6% markup. That means, if something costs $100 for the retailer to purchase, they must charge $106, plus, if it’s in Oklahoma City, the 8.375% sales tax.
This law really takes hold on days like Black Friday. I took this little blip from Kfor.com:
Randie Case of Wilson says she went to an Ardmore Wal-Mart store when she saw a 52-inch widescreen T-V advertised for 474 dollars. But in Oklahoma, the cost of that T-V is 699 dollars.Wal-Mart spokesman Bill Wertz says that even though a company’s national ad lists one price, companies still must comply with state law.
He says it’s unfortunate that state laws cause unevenness in prices for shoppers in states like Oklahoma.
How is that fair competition? If a retailer wants to undercut the competition to gain an edge, isn’t that ok? Wal Mart seems to have taken a strong hold in Oklahoma, even without selling below cost, so who is this law protecting?
What are your thoughts on this? I wonder how many other states have this law…
Posted by paul at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)
Bathroom Giddiness
November 12, 2006
One week ago today I walked into the bathroom at the Penn Square Mall here in Oklahoma City, and I immediately had goosebumps.
To my wonderous surprise, the old urinals had been replaced with waterless urinals!
Yay for small victories!
Posted by paul at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
Self Promotion
November 01, 2006
Needless to say, life in OKC is pretty darn good. Now, if only the kittens and the house would cooperate!
I’m in the midst of CIP and Bond Issue planning at work, along with my normal construction projects. Getting ahead ain’t easy, but it’s worth it.
This morning, lying awake in bed at 5:30 am, I realized that our GIS at work has a long way to go. I want to analyze all of the data, but, since most of it isn’t complete, I’m stuck trying to finish entering the data. It’s tough being both the data generator and the data user. It was so much easier when I was in GIS class… I either had all the data to analyze, or, if I was generating it, I had step by step directions.
Funny thing is, my bosses really have no clue where we can go from here. I do, but, since I have so many other duties, I can’t take it as far as I’d like.
The Planning Department is so far ahead of us, but we don’t even realize it. They are talking of adding a Transportation Planner or two, even though Public Works has a Transportation Planning group in the Transportation Management Line of Business. Why would Planning do such a thing? Because Traffic in Public Works is completely reactive, never proactive. At least for now.
Posted by paul at 05:57 AM | Comments (1)