Talk About Cutthroat Competition and Price Wars!!
DETROIT, MI -- The two gas stations stand across an intersection from each other in Detroit, where even a penny's difference was enough to lure customers. And so came the price war: One station dropped a cent or two, and the other grudgingly followed.
But the seemingly petty back-and-forth escalated Friday, ending with a fatal bullet in BP station owner Jawad Bazzi's head over what police say was a 3-cent difference in the cost of regular gas.
The Marathon station dropped its price to $2.93. That angered Jawad Bazzi, whose regular gas was priced at $2.96. Bazzi walked across the street with a couple of employees to confront the Marathon owner and his posse. The groups argued, then began throwing punches. One of Bazzi's employees hit a Marathon employee with a baseball bat, injuring him. That's when the Marathon owner grabbed a handgun and fired three or four times. Bazzi, 45, was shot in the head.
And here's the amazing conclusion to the story:
After the shooting, with the competing station closed, BP's price per gallon increased to $3.09 for regular.
(HT: Holeydonut)
2 Comments:
So we see the "Natural Outcome of Competition" where one group experiences "Rising Inequality" with the inability to find a peaceful solution satisfactory to all parties.
This is the way men have been sucked into destructive and aggressive acts throughout history.
I think that this is what we need in politics. Think of all the BS that could be eliminated.
This is economics at its best.
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