Walmart denies the obvious, gets away with it
Charging less than half the suggested retail price of books isn’t predatory pricing, says the CEO of Walmart, because the company has already “been the price leader in books for months before that program [the decision to sell bestsllers for $9 no matter the list price[ was announced.”
Of course, Raul Vazquez is, um, lying — you know anyone who previously went to Walmart for the kind of bestsellers or literary fiction they’re underpricing now? And excuse me? This wasn’t an attack on Amazon? — but as this Bloomberg News wire story by Chris Burritt details, the Walmart head is sticking to his guns.
“Generally the issue is whether or not you are intending to use pricing to drive someone out of business,” Vazquez says. As he clearly was. Nonetheless, nobody at the Justice Department was willing to respond to a complaint by the American Booksellers Association charging Walmart — and Target and Amazon — with the predatory pricing related to that.
And so on Friday Walmart’s stock advanced to $54.18 on the NYSE.
WalMart collects and pays sales taxes where it does business. Thus money spent there supports, schools, infrastructure expenses, etcetera. That great citizen Amazon threatens states that attempt to pass laws to require sales tax collection; thus all that dough that Californians spend at Amazon do ZILCH for the state’s economy but plenty for the CEO and the stockholders of Amazon. Think that one through, pal.