Newmark's Door

Secretary of Labor under Clinton, Mr. Reich--when he's not recommending making Elon Musk's free speech illegal--posts a brief four-point attack on Kroger, the lead complaint of which is "Had gross profit margins above 20% over the last 5 years".

This prompts an avalanche of criticism on X with almost of the replies highlighting Kroger's low net margin. Which is then discussed by Mr. Basel Musharbash who is a "lawyer helping . . . fight monopoly power". Mr. Musharbash argues, among things, that "executive and managerial salaries" are part of profit. Which elicits an interesting reply from "A Gourd for All Seasons":

Let's say Kroger is paying double what it should in rent (lol), as well as 500M in executive comp (double lol—CEO's total comp was 15M) that should all be counted as profits (triple lol). That would increase their net profit margin by . . . less than a point.

For a fine explanation of "Why Top CEOs Earn Big Paychecks" see Alex Tabarrok.

If the pay stays near "six figures", I expect this trend to continue.

Related: "Vo-Tech Education Is Taking Off, and It's Not Your Dad's Shop Class Anymore".

Another excellent case the Institute for Justice is bringing.

In America, the government doesn’t get to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Businesses compete, and the consumer ultimately decides which services or products they want. The idea that anyone can open a storefront and demonstrate their value to the community is part of the American Dream. But in South Fulton, Georgia, that dream has been upended by government officials who denied Awa Diagne a business license because she would be competing with more politically favored shops. That’s why Awa has teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) and filed suit against the city for its zoning abuse.  

Another tiny bit of why capitalism is so grand.

Clever paper by two marketing professors.

Ms. Wojcicki rented her garage to Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Judge Mehta recently found Google to be a monopoly.

then learn how to build, maintain, and program a control cabinet like the ones below."

UPDATE: Link fixed now.

A look at the so far incredible career of Palmer Luckey. Come for the career, stay for the brutal takedown of U.S. defense contracting.

North Carolina drops to second.

This piece is almost 11 years old, but still a very interesting look at the business of running a hot dog stand in Manhattan. For a cart near the Central Park zoo the license fee was $289,500/year.