Wal-Mart and the World (NOW with Bill Moyers)

From NOW with Bill Moyers:

The debate over Wal-Mart's effect on American towns and the American workforce is not new. "Wal-Martization" has become a code word for suburban sprawl. Yet this fall, the volume of that debate appears to have been turned up. TIME magazine ran a story about the demise of toy retailer FAO Schwarz titled "Will Wal-Mart Steal Christmas?" In October, BUSINESSWEEK magazine asked "Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?" In addition to news stories, opinion pieces abound. From the FORT-WORTH STAR TELEGRAM: "World's biggest company isn't purely a success story;" and from Cindy Rodriguez of the DENVER POST: "Wal-Mart's bargains may prove costly."

This is not to say that Wal-Mart faces a solid wall of criticism. In December 2003, THE NEW YORK TIMES ran a piece called "Is Wal-Mart good for America?" In the article economist Robert Reich suggested that Wal-Mart was the logical end product of an economy that places primary value on low prices. W. Michael Cox, chief economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, was quoted as saying: "Wal-Mart is the greatest thing that ever happened to low-income Americans. They can stretch their dollars and afford things they otherwise couldn't."

Some of the controversy surrounding Wal-Mart retail model relates to how these low prices are achieved. NOW's story investigates the role of wages, health care and tax abatement in keeping personnel costs at a minimum at Wal-Mart.

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