MetaFilter posts tagged with walmart and economics

In Wal-Mart's Image

acb — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:00:58 -0800

How Wal-Mart's values are shaping America's economy -- and why this is a very bad thing:

Around the time that the young Sam Walton opened his first stores, John Kennedy redeemed a presidential campaign promise by persuading Congress to extend the minimum wage to retail workers, who had until then not been covered by the law. Walton was furious. Now the goddamn federal government was telling him he had to pay his workers the $1.15 hourly minimum. Walton's response was to divide up his stores into individual companies whose revenues didn't exceed the $250,000 threshold. Eventually, though, a federal court ruled that this was simply a scheme to avoid paying the minimum wage, and he was ordered to pay his workers the accumulated sums he owed them, plus a double-time penalty thrown in for good measure. Wal-Mart cut the checks, but Walton also summoned the employees at a major cluster of his stores to a meeting. "I'll fire anyone who cashes the check," he told them.

Breaking the Chain.

chunking express — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 06:55:11 -0800

Breaking the Chain: The antitrust case against Wal-Mart. Barry C. Lynn argues Wal-Mart is a monopsony, and should be dealt with the same way A&P and Standard Oil were many years ago.

Wal-mart: Sith Lord of unbridaled capitalism

spock — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 09:31:24 -0800

That "liberal bastion" PBS and that "wacky" Christian Right AGREEING on something? Does the "Sith Lord of unbridaled capitalism" really deserve to be hated? Does it bear watching? A new movie will take a look: (Registration -free link). Why are growing numbers "ready to join the ranks of all right-thinking people the world over in declaring Wal-Mart an outpost of hell on earth"??? The full 60 minute Frontline program video is available online.

Biting the hand that feeds it

trharlan — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 13:08:15 -0800

Kevin Brancato (of Truck and Barter fame) has been running Alwayslowprices.net, a site dedicated to discussing the social and economic impact of Wal-Mart, for about a year. Though he has generally been one of the web's biggest Wal-Mart supporters, the firm has nonetheless issued to him a Cease and Decist Order.

WalmartFilter

alms — Wed, 15 Oct 2003 14:31:41 -0800

WalmartFilter: "Wal-Mart controls a large and rapidly increasing share of the business done by most every major U.S. consumer-products company: 28% of Dial total sales, 24% of Del Monte Foods, 23% of Clorox, 23% of Revlon... Wal-Mart plans to open 1,000 more supercenters in the U.S. alone over the next five years.. giving it control over 35% of U.S. food sales and 25% of drugstore sales...The $12 billion worth of Chinese goods Wal-Mart bought in 2002 represented 10% of all U.S. imports from China." Setting aside questions of monopoly, isn't this a potentially dangerous monoculture?