Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) sees that its customers are in trouble. "We live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems," said CEO Lee Scott in a speech quoted by Reuters. Saying that Wal-Mart is the "company of the future," Scott said the firm would take on issues of healthcare, energy consumption, and sourcing.

Scott's comments were outside what most companies would be comfortable saying about changing the basic behavior of its customers, but Wat-Mart may be big enough to bring down healthcare costs for hundreds of thousand of people by dropping prices on generic drugs. By making its electronics products more energy efficient Wal-Mart could have an impact on overall electricity use. It does sell enough consumer goods to potentially do that. According to the company, it is even in talks with car-makers to see if its can be of help building and marketing hybrids.

What Wal-Mart is talking about is obviously good for Wal-Mart. Helping its customers save money, up to a point, helps them continue to have money to shop. But the company's statements go beyond that. Wal-Mart is saying it will take a role that has been abandoned by the government. At the very least it is a role the government has passed on in many cases. An odd position for a big company, but one that Wal-Mart is taking nonetheless.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.