Fiat Money Inflation Not Only Raises Prices but Also Undermines Division of Labor
The line for the self-checkout registers at my neighborhood Albertsons stretched into the store’s produce section. Is this human progress? I wondered, scanning my groceries—this just after I had filled my car’s gas tank at a not-so-convenient convenience store near work.
Not long ago, someone not only pumped your gas and cleaned your windshield but also checked your oil and tire pressure while you waited comfortably behind the wheel of your car. Gas retailers were once called service stations for a reason. Someone provided service. Now, gas is sold at convenience stores or big box membership stores, with consumers handling the hose.
Grocery stores are newer to the customers-do-it-themselves model and are still phasing it in. The few visible cashiers are always busy enough to encourage people to do the scanning themselves rather than wait for precious human help.
Locally, once it gobbles up Albertsons (which has already absorbed Vons) and Smith’s, Kroger may attempt to squeeze customers harder. Given grocery’s tight profit margin, asking for a bag of apples might garner the response “Here’s a sack. The ladder is over there, and the trees are out back.” Once upon a time, grocers had employees who wheeled groceries to your car and placed them inside, sometimes with a smile.
In the words of Murray Rothbard:
The developing division of labor is a ke
Article from Mises Wire
