Do you want the real story about who destroyed America’s REAL economy?

We wanted to recommend a new book that just hit the shelves. In Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism And The Economics Of Destruction, New America Foundation’s Barry C. Lynn takes an explosive look at how Wall Street financiers took advantage of the overthrow of our antimonopoly laws to consolidate unprecedented powers.

They use these powers in ways that destroy jobs, degrade safety, crush independent businesses, forestall innovation, harm our environment, and threaten the political foundations of our democratic republic.

Not surprisingly, Walmart is a major player in this disturbing story. Lynn discusses Walmart as one of the quintessential examples of the destructive monopoly, arguing that Walmart needs to change its ways not just for the benefit of workers or communities, but for the entire economy.

Here is what others are saying about Cornered:

Cornered has changed my view of what’s gone wrong with American capitalism. Brilliantly argued and meticulously reported, it confronts with the age-old enemy of both progressives and libertarian conservatives—the power of monopoly.
-Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Brightsided.

This book is essential to understanding how we got into our current mess.
-Michael Mandel, chief economist, BusinessWeek.

This is a truly groundbreaking and eye-opening work that everyone interested in understanding how the world really operates should read.
-Ha Joon Chang, winner Leontief Prize in economics, author Bad Samaritans.

The way they fight them tooth and nail, you’d think Wal-Mart believes its eventual downfall could come at the hands of unions. But could there be another force at work, something evil that lives deep within the bowels of our planet, a nightmare that keeps Wal-Mart up at night clutching its pillows and sweating in its cheap Sam’s Club bed?

Expensive oil?

Admit it...you thought I was going the science fiction route. A vicious Balrog from Lord of the Rings that lives beneath the Earth’s crust and breathes fire. I guess you could make the leap to oil - it too has a black heart and is flammable, after all. And in his new book $20 Per Gallon, Christopher Steiner imagines an everyday world in which the price of gasoline (and oil) continues to rise (and rise...and rise some more), and the immediate impact that would have on our lives. The Oregonian has a sample:

$6/gallon: We will finally kill the SUV, allowing Los Angeles to emerge from smog and saving 15,600 lives a year from deadly auto crashes, since people will be driving far less. At the same time, revenues from gas taxes will plunge, causing roads and bridges to crumble, leading to higher tolls.
$14: “Wal-Mart killed by high cost of global transport. Mom-and-pop retailers return to Main Street. U.S. Factories revive.” The bad? “With driving cut in half and asphalt costs soaring, even toll roads shut down.”
$20: Mass biking and transit, including the nationwide high-speed rail network that will supposedly happen at $18 a gallon. Plus, 90 percent of Americans will live in cities. “The bad,” according to Steiner’s prediction is nuclear power will power everything, including cargo ships and polyester will be “too expensive for clothes.”

Steiner notes that as oil and gas prices rise, business models like Wal-Mart’s (heavy on cheap overseas imports, reliant on a driving/mobile consumer) will become progressively more unsustainable. Could we see companies like Wal-Mart lobbying against raising the Federal gas tax or a tax on miles driven? Could future rises in costs be behind Wal-Mart’s attempts to move into more urban areas? Check out an interview with Steiner on Michigan NPR after the jump, and then share your thoughts.

Read the rest of this story ...

Food politics has become an increasingly important part of social responsibility and aided by bestselling books, blockbuster movies and celebrity endorsements, the movement is gaining ground. Wal-Mart, eager to improve its reputation among progressives, has tried to capitalize on the popularity of responsible eating...with varying degrees of success. The retailer first started selling organic produce - a program it later abandoned - and more recently has publicized its sourcing of local foods.

In his new book “The End of Food,” Paul Roberts points out Wal-Mart’s impact on our food supply goes far beyond these superficial initiatives. From the New York Times’ review:

Roberts isolates a number of culprits. Wal-Mart, for example, where America spends 21 cents of every food dollar and where some experts say we will soon be spending 50 cents of that dollar, continues to drive down retail prices to unsustainably low levels. One consequence is that food is becoming, once again, a commodity of “lesser quality and nutritional value.”

As the largest grocer in America, Wal-Mart is using its marketplace power to drive down the cost - and quality - of food. As a result, our food supply is degrading faster than you can say “in-store dining options.” And it’s not just Wal-Mart’s purchasing power that’s damaging our food supply: the retailer contributes heftily to the environmental damage, suburban sprawl and economic poverty that Roberts blames for the decline in food quality and food choices.

Wal-Mart is certainly not solely to blame for the world’s food problems, but the retailer’s business model simply doesn’t qualify as a sustainable solution to growing demand for fair food. For those committed to leveling the playing field of food politics, stick to the farmer’s market and your locally-owned grocer.

Nothing to Eat [New York Times]