In the Marketplace
Nobody's selling used stuff as with as much gusto, effort, and enthusiasm as new stuff. Manufacturers create new widgets and incentivize their sales force to peddle them. Outside of the Antique Roadshow, we usually don't place a whole lot of value on old and used junk, even if we are able to use it. The kitchen stuff at your local Salvation Army doesn't have a snowball's chance against the goods at Sur La Table.
In Coca-Cola's world, everyone drinks a 12-pack of coke a day. But even that is a cap. You cannot have growth on top of growth on top of growth, and on and on, forever. The buck has to stop somewhere. Perhaps Coke should try pushing a product on people that doesn't contribute to obesity. Libertarians would surely tell me that in a more perfect world, consumers would demand such a product.
Too many mergers and acquisitions is counter to nature's preference for small. Sure, insects don't live long and their survival rate per batch is relatively low, but the larger an organism is, the more susceptible it is to changes in its environment. Sheer size comes at the cost of adaptability and agility.
You can't post "Cigarettes not purchased" on the income statement. A lack of a harmful product being purchased by consumers doesn't help anyone's bottom line. (Maybe Nicorette's.) Net benefit to society doesn't always contribute to net income, unless someone creates a business model to make it happen.
In Coca-Cola's world, everyone drinks a 12-pack of coke a day. But even that is a cap. You cannot have growth on top of growth on top of growth, and on and on, forever. The buck has to stop somewhere. Perhaps Coke should try pushing a product on people that doesn't contribute to obesity. Libertarians would surely tell me that in a more perfect world, consumers would demand such a product.
Too many mergers and acquisitions is counter to nature's preference for small. Sure, insects don't live long and their survival rate per batch is relatively low, but the larger an organism is, the more susceptible it is to changes in its environment. Sheer size comes at the cost of adaptability and agility.
You can't post "Cigarettes not purchased" on the income statement. A lack of a harmful product being purchased by consumers doesn't help anyone's bottom line. (Maybe Nicorette's.) Net benefit to society doesn't always contribute to net income, unless someone creates a business model to make it happen.