Summary of Leigh Phillips & Michal Rozworski's The People's Republic of Walmart

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 While we do not defend Walmart, we do admire the company’s efficiency and logistical genius. #2 The free market is not the only way to allocate resources. democratic planning, while not perfect, is better than free market capitalism. There are many overlap between the set of all goods and services that are useful to humanity and the set of all goods and services that are profitable. #3 The same principle applies to fossil fuels, which were not produced because they are harmful to the environment. However, as long as governments do not intervene and build out the clean electricity infrastructure needed to replace them, the market will continue to produce them. #4 Antibiotics are successful if they kill off an infection, but they are not profitable enough for pharmaceutical companies to continue developing them. Thus, it is long-term therapy that drives interest in drug development.