As you know, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is pretty controversial these days. Amid concerns about the company's labor practices, environmental policies, and effect on mom-and-pop shops, people everywhere are asking "Is Wal-Mart good for America and the world?" I don't have a definitive answer to that question, but it's a question that's of great interest to me, and many others. Academics from various disciplines, from economics to sociology, have convened conferences to debate the impact of Wal-Mart. If you're interested in becoming a Wal-Mart expert, and an informed citizen on the company and its impact, be sure to check out these books:
The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy by Charles Fishman. I consider this to be the definitive primer on Wal-Mart. It's written from an objective, nuanced perspective, and is a fascinating read: The man who said no to Wal-Mart, a gallon of pickles for three dollars, and more. If you want to understand Wal-Mart and America, read this book.
Wal-Mart: The Face of 21st Century Capitalism edited by Nelson Lichtenstein. This is a collection of essays about Wal-Mart written by academics from various fields. It's less entertaining than The Wal-Mart Effect, but still worthwhile reading.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price by Greg Spotts. This is the companion book to the documentary. The documentary is interesting but clearly biased; the book was written with the express purpose of making you hate Wal-Mart. Milton Friedman capitalists ("The social responsibility of a corporation is to increase its profits.") will probably cry foul at this book.
The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy by Richard Vedder and Wendell Cox. Put out by the American Enterprise Institute, this book has the same problems as the above, although the bias is the opposite: This book is basically a rebuttal to The High Cost of Low Price, and it seems likely that the truth is probably somewhere in between the two books.
So there you have it: the four books you need to become a Wal-Mart expert. But a word of warning: An in-depth study of Wal-Mart creates more questions than answers. For every study showing that Wal-Mart hurts America, another shows that it is a net positive. It seems likely that Wal-Mart will continue to be a source of intellectual excitement for awhile -- at least for nerds like me with nothing better to do than debate the pros and cons of a large corporation.
Will Rich Ross really have a positive impact on Disney's movie operations?
Consumers sick of recession, may spend extra on holidays
Corrections, seasonality and Santa Claus
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-19-2007 @ 2:09PM
herro3m said...
I haven't seen anything but areas around w/m grow with other retailers and tons of cars in their parking lots.these watch dog union groups need to look at other companies not just w/m for its 1.4m associates that they want too charge them $12-15 dues to support their expenses of big cars,silk suits and uptown dinners.