Interesting article

Here's an interesting article on how Wal-Mart does business (and destroys other businesses in the process):


http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

It's a story that bears repeating

The linked article is a few years old, but it presents the same dilemma presented in the editorial a bit further down on this page, and in "Wal-Mart:  The High Cost of Low Prices."

Wal-Mart really is a new kind of beast.  Economist might call it a monopsony.  They're so big that they can dictate terms to their vendors.  The vendors are enticed by the promise of big sales, but then become trapped in a downward spiral of cost-cutting, which inevitably means cutting pay and benefits for workers.

A corporation the size of Wal-Mart has the power to shape the very marketplace they operate in.  They can use their power to boost wages, raise our expectations about health care benefits, and improve the standard of living the world over.  Or they can exploit cutthroat competition and create a world where nothing is sacred but the almighty dollar.