Is Wal-Mart Good for America?

 Wow. I did not know all of this information about Wal-Mart. When I think of Wal-Mart, I have fond memories of excitedly walking into the store with my mom as a little girl and receiving a yellow, smiley face sticker. I adored those stickers. Lo and behold, this low price store is practically a monopoly, and definitely an oligopoly because it has severely dictated the terms in which it purchases materials from its suppliers.

While the low prices and “one-stop shop” of Wal-Mart makes it a convenient choice for consumers, I do not think Wal-Mart is good for America. Wal-Mart has encouraged trading with China, and China provides 80% of Wal-Mart’s imports. However, Wal-Mart has exploited China country and its workers workers in the process.  One woman in Long Beach, California said they receive $36 billion in imports from China, and only export $3 billion to provide China with supplies for products.  That doesn’t seem right, and as many people throughout the program said, this setup is a better deal for the importer.

Meanwhile, the workers in China, who “are determined to move forward” and “will do anything to move forward” only work for 50 cents an hour, but usually 25-30 cents an hour, and must work long hours to keep up with rapid rates of production.  This is completely immoral, but there is nothing the Chinese can do about it since labor unions are illegal in their country, as our textbook writes.

These ties with China have also proved to be detrimental to America. Wal-Mart’s low prices attract many customers, but this threatens other American businesses, causing many of them to fail. Wal-Mart also makes strict demands upon its suppliers. For example, Rubbermaid makes plastic, and when the cost of resin increased, Rubbermaid was forced to increase the cost of its products, but Wal-Mart would not accept this and Rubbermaid eventually closed. Upon being asked if he would work for Wal-Mart, a man said no because the low prices and cheap foreign imports are putting other American businesses and workers out of business.

While Wal-Mart has used the brilliant “pull” technique of telling manufacturers what to produce based upon what products are being purchased the most, and has capitalized its success upon showcasing low, opening prices at rock-bottom amounts to lure customers, I do not think the corporation is particularly moral or honest. It is taking jobs and businesses away from Americans and American soil and exploiting Chinese workers and the international division of labor in the process.  As Larry Mishel, President of Economic Policy Institute, said, “If people were only consumers buying things, then low prices would be good, but people are also workers who need to earn a decent standard of living,” and the national and global dynamics necessary to create these low prices are detrimental.