Candido, idéaliste.

connection problems, trip to the country...
back next week...

In Bamako, don't look for markets, you'll find something to buy everywhere. Peddlers swarm, so do open shops in some neighbourhoods. Everybody tries to make money to survive, buying and selling. This is heaven for free-market, where only the best survive. Others disappear, swept away by competition.

Free market is very efficient here, it provides abundance. As soon as I go out I'm sure to never run short of cookies, water in plastic pouch (don't drink it), cotton buds, cigarettes, lighters, tooth-brushes, telephone cards...
In a single trip to a store or a market, you will certainly come across them a couple of times. Among the peddlers you find lots of kids. I wish those kids could go to school instead of having to work for a living.

You also have this somewhat charming custom: haggling. You must do it, even if your western country's income can afford you to pay full price. This helps keep the price reasonable for locals. I have to admit it can be fun, like playing a role in a play. It's also funny to see what arguments the vendor brings out to justify the price.

There would have been quite a lot to say in the recent news, for instance about corporations threatening to outsource their activity in order to get employees cut their wage or to increase work duration. Back to middle age again. I'll possibly catch up on this.

Unfortunately, I've been quite busy these days preparing a trip to Mali. I'll spend there a couple of months in a volunteering project, and will post here some relevant thoughts, if it's technically possible.

I've been following and participating to the discussion on Mises.org, the ultraliberal thinktank which happens to run a weblog, over the supermarket chains.
http://www.mises.org/blog/archives/002263.asp

I can't seem to be able to post another reply to Bill, one of the last commenters on their site (get bumped by Movable Type for obscure reasons). Here it is:
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Bill,

This is the problem in ultraliberal countries, the government is never seen as "the community of citizens", working for the good of everyone, although it is, historically. You always see it as an extra-terrestrial entity landed to suck your money dry.
You seem to never figure out that the strength of a society depends on how much its members are united, not how much GNP it makes.
Even big corporations unite (through mergers). The only problem is that it only benefits to private interests, whereas a the community has public interests in mind.
The idea that the government should not take care of its citizens takes us back to the middle-age.

have you ever been in a Whole Food store? Their mark-ups are incredble (I wish thought of the idea).

If margins are so high, why don't you enter the market? Isn't this an capitalist economy's great rule and advantage?
What's striking is that you only see improvement of quality of life through the money goggles. The world will have to realize once that if you want lower prices, at the end of the day, somebody's work will have to be paid less, and the quality of products will suffer. Work's worth something.

p.s. I live in a pizza desert! It's an hour round trip to get a good pie. When will someone address this pressing issue?

You must not realize what you're writing here.
The law of market speaks. If you support this law, just live with it and stop whining.
Funny you are pretty much asking for a "pizza delivery public service" that would ensure that any citizen can get his pizza, as a goal for the community. Nice. I'm sure you'll find a lot of supporters on Mises.org.