Sadly, this will be my last substantive post on Always Low Prices.
Soon, this website will go dark.
I appreciate your readership and participation in this venture; it's been very exciting to have a ring-side seat at such an interesting commercial, political, and ideologically prize-fight. I'm sorry to have to exit during an early round, and it is unlikely that I will return to blogging about Wal-Mart any time soon.
I have not been bullied by Wal-Mart into this decision, but have decided -- not without considerable disappointment -- that my direct involvement in an often over-heated public-policy discussion is no longer in the best interests of me or my employer.
Why am I leaving the blogosphere? Well, I'm not -- I just won't be writing anything about Wal-Mart. My other blog , Truck & Barter will host the ALP archives (which will be closed to new comments), and I will continue writing about economics generally. I take this severe measure to prevent even the appearance of a conflict of interest. My recent public exposure brought this risk to the forefront...
But something more fundamental has happened: I'm getting ready to perform serious research -- on my own -- about Wal-Mart. At the recent economic conference, I asked a Wal-Mart representative if it would be possible to perform reasearch about Wal-Mart's logistics and disaster response activities. While Wal-Mart expressed no firm commitment, and no dialogue has been started between me and Wal-Mart, the mere existence of any such potential personal contact with Wal-Mart that would benefit my career is inconsistent with the independent stance of ALP. In short, I don't want a credibility problem in the future, so I'm taking harsh measures now.
Posted by Kevin on November, 14 2005 at 04:08 PM
George Nemeth wrote:Kevin,
Best of luck. You DID fight a good fight. This space will be empty w/o you...
-- November 14, 2005 09:38 PM ∞
ken alexander wrote:A potential Wal Mart was just voted out of a town, just south of Madison, WI, that was just hit by a devastating tornado. It is likely that every thing blown away in the funnel could probably be replaced at a WM. It is also perplexing that an organization such as the KKK has every right to assemble and say things that are disputed and loathed by most. Just as a business in the USA has the right to this or that, not to mention free enterprise, as long sd they are within legal lines. For the most part, screw ethics. That's a right, too. It's all so bittersweet. So is my car, and my dog.
-- November 15, 2005 01:01 AM ∞
Bobby wrote:WHAT?!?! You've got to be kidding me. Kevin, you can't just bolt like this. There must be another solution.
There is no one in the blogosphere who can fill your shoes. Wal-Mart watchers need you. The Internet needs you. Heck, the whole world needs you. At an average of 600 site visits a day and 1,017 page views per day, you are clearly read by a great many people.
I hope you will reconsider or perhaps think of some other option that hasn't been considered yet.
Damnit, man, ALP is just awesome. Don't stop. Kevin, there are too many ALP junkies out there. Kevin.. we're gonna go into terrible withdrawal! Terrible, terrible withdrawal. Kevin!!
-- November 15, 2005 01:02 AM ∞
Bobby wrote:This sucks. I am so depressed now. Damnit! I'm already in withdrawal. Kevin, say it ain't so, buddy!
-- November 15, 2005 01:05 AM ∞
ken alexander wrote:While WM certainly has the right to assemble themselves and sell what they want and pay their employees crumbs, I also have the right never to shop there and to spreas that attitude. I have seen them, and other big boxes put more small shops out of business than yoou can count. And the places replaced I was able to walk to. WM is set up like so many shopping malls and big boxes---they are geared to the car culture, eliminating personal interaction. And yet another level of our culture which is being destroyed. Stop them from constructiong. Stop the big boxes from selling. What have we got to lose? The corner drug store? We have already lost it.
-- November 15, 2005 01:26 AM ∞
Rob wrote:And just when you got a blurb in BW magazine! Sad to see you go, but I understand.
-- November 15, 2005 08:38 AM ∞
Kevin Brancato wrote:It's so.
I too wish there were another way.
-- November 15, 2005 09:00 AM ∞
Michael Hicks wrote:Kevin:
Preserving an individual and institutional devotion to objectivity of analysis is one of the most continually challenging facets of work in economics or public policy research. It is unfortunate that so many folks part with their objectivity with such ease of conscience. This is particularly true in the debate about Wal-Mart and the larger issues facing the national economy. I applaud you for this blog, which is an invaluable source of information as well as a source of entertainment. I wish you well.
-- November 15, 2005 10:04 AM ∞
Matias wrote:I support Bobby: there must be another way. Do not sell this great franchise on the cheap Kevin! Some ideas:
1. Another Brancato: We know you are a difficult act to follow, but it is still feasible. Look for another economist interested in Wal Mart. If he is concerned about potential Wal Mart actions, he can do it incognito.
2. Competition: Select some good bloggers about Wal Mart, make them compete and we can vote on the best them.
3. Management by Commitee: We could attack different perspectives on Wal Mart, and Kevin would choose its members. For sure I wanted to start a blog about business in Latin America, and could give a very good perspective on Wal Mart's business in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.
A retail executive and former strategic consultant
-- November 15, 2005 11:57 AM ∞
Steve Lee wrote:I learned many things from alwayslowprices having clicked all the links you provided. I was curious how Wal-Mart grew so fast and I think it was the distribution system that you are going to research that is the key factor. Price is important but if a store is out of stock a sale will not be made.
Thankyou for the information. Steve Lee, Lost Angeles.-- November 15, 2005 03:22 PM ∞
Kegger wrote:I hate to see you go after a great fight. I understand your reasons for leaving but I believe you should give the site to someone that can keep it going and not give it to Wal-Mart. If you give it to Wal-Mart you will be giving up everything you fight for. I hope you will think about what I said and not give the site to Wal-Mart.
-- November 15, 2005 05:53 PM ∞
Kevin Brancato wrote:Let me make some incomplete remarks...
I don't have good answers for your very good objections to my plan to give the domain to Wal-Mart. I'd like for an ALP style blog to continue, but...
I need to walk away, quietly and pretty quickly and completely. I need to sever my ties to this debate, even at the cost of my own personal satisfaction, and at the cost of the intellectual capital and widespread following this blog has built. I think becoming an editor/manager of other people's writing will not remove the potential conflict of interest... However, I think finding/choosing a replacement economist is a pretty good idea, and I would consider it, but...
First of all, I cannot let somebody else control the content I've already put up, and I cannot let that content be an active part of an ongoing discussion.
So when I take away the content of ALP, what does that leave? The domain name and the template. I can give the domain to as-yet unspecified cadre of non-partisan, objective-thinking folks, but does that not then make me partly responsible for their message?
And why haven't these people contacted me before? Why haven't they (and why couldn't they) start their own blog(s) on other, non-contested, domains?
I'll offer to link to any and all ALP replacements as the final post on ALP...
-- November 15, 2005 11:19 PM ∞
Matt wrote:Kevin,
It's sad to see you and the site go, but good luck on your future work.
Thanks for the opportunity to post here and I apologize for not being more active.
-- November 16, 2005 11:48 AM ∞
Bob Long wrote:Kevin. Best of luck in the future. I have thoroughly enjoyed the site. I am very pro-WalMart and my wife has worked there for over 16 years. The amount of mis-information and outright lies that people spread is incredible, but I have always found that you provided a very fair and unbiased picture of the issues. For that, I thank you. You will do well, I am sure...
Thanks.. Bob
-- November 16, 2005 02:21 PM ∞
John Henry wrote:Kevin
I want to say that I am sorry to see the site go away. I understand but I am stil sorry to see it go. I'll continue to read Truck & Barter. (Wish I could have both, though)
John Henry
-- November 17, 2005 06:56 AM ∞
Uncle Sam wrote:People point to Walmart and cry "anti-union".
Unions enable disfavored people to live satisfactorly without addressing their disfavor. This way their family's problems are never resolved. Without the union they would have to accept the heirarchy, their own inferiority.
Unions serve to empower.
Walmart is anti-union because they are good. They try to help people address and resolve their problems by creating an enviornment where there are fewer hurdles.Media ridicule and lawsuits are creations to reinforce people's belief that Walmart is evil in a subsegment of the industry dominated by the middle and lower classes.
Low-cost disfavored Chinese labor is utilized by corporate america to maximize margins. They all do it. Only WalMart gets fingered because they are the ones who help, and those who seek to create confusion in the marketplace want to eliminate the vast middle class who have a real chance and instead stick with lower classes who may not work otherwise. So they dirty him up while allowing the others to appear clean.The coining of the term "Uncle Sam" was a clue alluding to this::Sam Walton's WalMart is one of few saviors of the peasant class.
-- November 22, 2005 10:09 PM ∞
Steve Rhodes wrote:You shouldn't give this domain to Wal-Mart period.
First, if you're worried about the appearance of a conflict of interest, it will cause people to raise questions about any research you publish about Wal-Mart. People will wonder if you got access because you gave them a valuable domain.
You can keep the domain as an archive of this content. There are many links and media mentions of this website. How will people looking for information feel when they get a Wal-Mart website.
To have new content, set up a http://del.icio.us account (if you don't already have one), put the feed on this site, and bookmark Wal-Mart related articles from a range of points of view. I'm sure you'll still be following them. And it will just be links, not commentary.
-- November 24, 2005 06:23 PM ∞
Admiral wrote:ALP will be missed, but I am a fan of Truck & Barter so I look forward to refocusing there anyway. Good luck.
-- November 26, 2005 12:48 PM ∞
Mike Linksvayer wrote:Instead of giving the domain to Wal-Mart, make it redirect to the ALP read-only archives on truck and barter. Preferably the URL for each post on alp would redirect to the same post archived on t&b. No doubt you know someone who can set up Apache web server mod_rewrite rules to do this for you.
If you simply make the domain go dark, or hand over to Wal-Mart, every blogger who has bothered to link to one of your posts is out of luck. See Cool URIs don't change.
-- November 26, 2005 02:01 PM ∞
