Actually, The Problem Is Vice

Benedict XVI:

Greed, which views possession and appearance as the most important things in the world, is the real root of the current global economic crisis. Benedict XVI again today pointed to a "vice" of the human heart as the profound cause of the economic situation. He has expressed this view repeatedly, most recently in Luanda, during his trip to Africa, when he spoke of "the greed that corrupts the heart of man," or at the beginning of April, when in a message addressed to the G20 summit he wrote that the origin of the crisis there is also a "failure of correct ethical behavior."...

I had a business conversation with a client today during which he mentioned that he had bid against a Fortune 50 competitor in two different situations. In one case, they underbid the F50 company by NINETY-FIVE PERCENT (and my client was going to make a lot of money); in the other, they underbid the same competitor by about SIXTY-SEVEN PERCENT (and my client was going to make a lot of money.)

Obviously, there are a number of reasons for price variations, one of them being retained earnings to allow a Company to survive recessions and to spend money on R&D, (etc., etc.) But one can question disparities that large for damn-near-identical service offerings, no?

Yes.

HT: Rocco