Summary 11

In the article “Progressive Wal-Mart. Really” by Sebastian Mallaby it is reported that Wal-Mart’s critics suggest that the company is bad for “poor Americans.” Mallaby claims that this statement is untrue and calls Wal-Mart a “progressive success story.” He reports that the discounts on the food they sell increase the welfare of American shoppers by a minimum of $50 billion a year and how important this gain is to poor and moderate families. In comparison to families that shop at places such as Target and Costco, Wal-Mart shopper’s annual income is significantly lower. Therefore, Wal-Mart’s “everyday low prices” make a huge impact to the poor considering that they spend majority of their income on food.
Furthermore, Wal-Mart’s assistance to consumers makes it a force for poverty relief. Mallaby reports that going against the savings for consumers is Wal-Mart’s “alleged” low hourly wages disputes. But he suggests that if Wal-Mart does indeed pay less to its employees then not everyone feels that way. At a store in Arizona that opened up, for 525 jobs they received 8,000 applicants. And if the retail workers do take home less pay, thanks to Wal-Mart’s low prices, their “purchasing power” grows. As one of the consumers that make less annually that shop at Wal-Mart they are able to save on food and other basics due to Wal-Mart’s discounts on products. Mallaby feels that with the amount of jobs Wal-Mart creates by opening up new stores and its “everyday low prices” it is definitely the opposite of bad for what is considered “poor Americans”.