In the past few months three long time Jewish establishments, who combined have served the community for close to 150 years have closed down. The rapid changes in the economy have made it increasingly difficult for the “mom and pop shops” in this case - a bakery a bookstore and a restaurant to compete. This is most unfortunate for the community and more importantly for the impacted businesses and their employees. Besides the economic costs there is the personal pain and feeling of loss of years and years of hard work only to be left with little to show for it. Yet these closing are just a microcosm for the economy as a whole. The jobless rate especially in the United States remains stubbornly high with economists predicting this will continue for many many years.
While there is some debate as to the nature of protection a society can and should offer from competition the mainstream Jewish view seems to be very little. While some Jewish courts will for example enjoin a pizza store business from opening if there is not enough of a clientele to support two-thereby forcing one to close down that represents a minority view. Let the best business win is the strategy that serves the greatest public good. And all agree if a new entrant just lowers profits of the competitors no protection would ever be afforded. In deciding economic policies it is the benefit of the many that must take precedence over the needs of the few.
Progress does come at a cost. We are aware how competition is good for the consumer and that good can at times, sadly, be achieved only at the expense of the few. Free trade has brought enormous economic benefits and Israel for example has spend much effort in negotiating free trade agreements those being one of the many factors propelling Israel into an economic powerhouse. One hears many voices opposing free trade- form politicians concerned about some local business in their riding, from environmentalists who oppose (in theory) almost all forms of economic development, but rarely if ever will an economist express opposition. What Jewish (and secular) law offers business struggling to compete is protection against predatory pricing, selling below cost thereby driving out the competition and then of course raising prices. The only “protection” the community can offer is by supporting these business by patronizing them. Our tradition teaches that all being equal we should support our co-religionists; this should be natural as we want our fellow Jews to succeed. Likewise we should make a special effort to buy Israeli products. However this show of support need only go so far. If the quality is inferior or the price higher one is not expected to foergo such. Yet it would seem that especially today with the difficulty of competing against the mega stores it behooves us to support our own if the cost is only slightly higher. We should be willing to slight inconvenience ourselves and to pay
a little more to help support our own, even if one feels this is only delaying the inevitable. The competitive nature of toady's marketplace makes it incumbent that our community do its utmost to offer anciallry service, employment counceling, internships, interest free start up loans and the like enabling people to met the challenges of tommorrow.
