The Economics of Empty Carts

What Walmart Checkouts Tell Us About North America

Dear Unlearners,

I watched someone at the Walmart checkout the other day.

She placed each item on the belt methodically. One at a time. Not because she was slow. But because she was counting.

Milk: $7.08

Eggs: $3.97

Bread: $3.27

The running total matters more than ever.

We've been trained to be impatient in lines. To see slow checkers and dawdling customers as inefficient, inconsiderate, wasteful of our precious time.

But what if we're witnessing something else?

The empty cart economy isn't about forgetfulness or minimalism or quick trips to the store. It's about the impossibility of making numbers work that simply won't work.

Even Walmart isn't cheap anymore. When the average store becomes a luxury, we're not just facing inflation. We're watching the middle class disappear in real time.

Look in the carts around you. No fresh fruit. No vegetables. Just the essentials that stretch the furthest. The kind of food that keeps you alive but doesn't really let you live.

The dollar store next door is now…