THERE's an unorthodox tourist sight that I always tick off on trips abroad. It's not that I don't check out the historic squares, the museums and galleries or even the nightlife. It's just that I am obsessed with doing the most usual chores: going to the supermarket.
A quick visit can teach you much about a place and its people. From the whole squid in a Greek supermarket to the immaculate patisserie section in a French one, there's always something exciting to discover.
I imagine myself to be like the former Soviet leader
Our forefathers would have been absolutely stunned to see the variety of food on display at the average supermarket. The spice section has more flavours than would have been available for kings and queens in previous eras.
Yet many do not appreciate this wonder of the modern world. Last week,
But this entirely misses the facts.
Profit is an often misunderstood and wrongly maligned concept. In financial terms, profit is what is left after total costs are subtracted from revenues. But there's also a moral case for profit making. It's the just reward for a company that creates value, whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Profit is the prize for a supermarket that keeps the shelves full, builds and renovates stores, and invests in complex logistics systems that improve productivity and keep down prices. The practical alternative to supermarkets making a profit is not some utopia; it would mean their operations ceasing. This would be a tragedy for millions.
Many will say we are now in the era of 'stakeholder capitalism', where companies are meant to care less about the bottom line and more about trendy causes. But the true value of a company, particularly one like
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