and yet more on evil wal-mart ...

it was reported in the atlanta journal constitution a couple weeks ago that among kids on georgia's proram for uninsured children - PeachCare - far, far more of their parents work for wal-mart than for any other private employer - about 14 times higher than work for publix, the next highest employer.

this just strengthens argument that when you're paying $2.97 for a gallon jar of pickles at wal-mart, you're not paying anywhere near the social cost of that jar of pickles.

why do so few (about half) of wal-mart employees get health insurance from them? in part because their wages are too low to afford it, in part because wal-mart employs so many part-time employees. in part, it's because they're covered by their spouses, meaning socially responsible companies bear the burden of wal-mart's cost-slashing schemes. whatever the cause, wal-mart spends far less per employee on health insurance.

it's not the case that wal-mart has such an efficient business model that it can pass the savings on to its customers. rather, it passes its costs on to taxpayers and small businesses.