Wal-Mart

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22719054/

Why Wal-Mart may just be good for the U.S.
Minneapolis Fed shows economic growth in communities with stores
By Tom Van Riper
Forbes
updated 9:59 p.m. ET, Thurs., Jan. 17, 2008
It may surprise — or even infuriate — critics, but a new study finds Wal-Mart benefits rather than harms the American economy.

That's the conclusion of a report just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which studied the "Wal-Mart effect" for 89 counties in its region over the past two decades. The study shows that between 1985 and 2003, personal income, overall employment and retail employment grew faster in counties with a Wal-Mart than in those without one.

Surprised? Don't be. Just acknowledge that Adam Smith was probably right: An exchange of goods at low prices benefits everyone. In the case of Wal-Mart, it seems evident that its model of low prices brings more choice to consumers, which is why so many choose to shop there.

While it is widely (or maybe not so widely) believed that Wal-Mart wipes out local jobs and depresses wages, "the findings suggest the opposite: Firm growth, employment and total earnings were somewhat stronger in Wal-Mart counties," the report says. Still, according to a Pew study cited by the report, 24 percent of Americans think the company is bad for the economy, and 31 percent had an unfavorable view of it.

Yet Wal-Mart accounts for almost 6 percent of retail and food sales in the U.S. — 7.5 percent if you include car sales, according to the report. Among those living near a Wal-Mart, the Pew study found 81 percent said it was a good place to shop. Five out of six Americans shopped at the stores in 2005. Nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population lives within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart store, and two-thirds of all retailers are located within five miles of one, the Fed's report says.

You would think she believes Walmart is BAD.

discussions - the post 93 crew seems more evil every year (granted the "green" lighting is nice).

Correlation does not equal causality..

The numbers may say the above but chances are Wal marts moved in there *because* of growth not before is. And Adam Smith was right but he said nothing of pathetic wages and importing all your goods..

http://www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart2.htm

I'm picking up a pair on the way home today. What about you?

Your tax dollars pay for Wal-Mart's greed

* The estimated total amount of federal assistance for which Wal-Mart employees were eligible in 2004 was $2.5 billion.

that Wal-Mart employees get from the local govts. just to keep Wal-Mart's prices low ... he would have been crucified by Fox ... but since it's Wal-Mart that is draining the resources from the govt. (employees still on the govt rolls, and being taught how to get those bennies from the local govt by the Wal-Mart management), Faux is happy to promote Wally-World.

a business's success is not based on the success of the shareholders, or any other statistics that are dug up, IMO. People go to work every day in order to make their lives better, not to be enslaved by the schemes of a few executives and owners. That's why it has always been my opinion that a company's success is determined by how well their employees are doing, and I doubt Wal-mart provides much of a future for 99% of their staff.

Probably that 81% don't have many other places TO shop, once walmart arrives...

I've seen MSM B.S. before, but this is too much. Did Kkkarl write this for practice?

WalMart closely studies the economics of the areas where they wish to build new stores. If they didn't, they'd be held criminally negligent by their stockholders - the board and management would be tarred and feathered at the stockholders meetings if they didn't continue to grow profits.

The placement of every WalMart is an economic decision based on an incomprehensible array of facts and statistics, not least among them: household income, employment, economic trends, housing, household spending, existing businesses, transportation infrastructure, population growth, ethnicity and job forecasts. In short, location, location, location. A corporation as large and rich as WalMart can afford to spend as much as necessary for good information. That most of this data is available at little or no cost means they only have to pay for the consultants, programmers and computer time for crunching the numbers.

We all know, and some have lived through, the effect WalMart has on a local economy. As a child in the early 70's I saw the business district of my own and two neighboring towns die after the opening of a single, centrally located K-Mart. The final death knell sounded when a shopping mall with three anchor stores opened a few years later. Towns thirty miles away were adversely affected and few locally owned businesses survived. Those that did were forced to climb into the gutter and began to sell cheap goods in order to compete.

Though K-Mart and the mall developers of the 60's, 70's and 80's didn't have the same powerful tools as today's WalMart, they certainly used the same information to murder local businesses. However, no big-box store or mall developer would have done so if there weren't numerous businesses outside their realm of competition, in addition to strong indicators for further growth and economic expansion, to provide the necessary disposable income and ensure continued profitability.

Anyone who believes WalMart is employing psychics, witches, Voodoo priestesses or gypsies to advise them where to build their stores, probably also believes the Earth is only 6,008 years old, that DINO Feinstein is the name of Fred and Wilma's house pet and that Dumbya will go down in history second only to St. Ronnie as the bestestest pResident evah. Then again, if we could convince them that WalMart does, indeed, use these unholy methods....