Summary

Two studies reveal that Walmart’s entry into communities lowers household incomes by 6% over 10 years and increases poverty by 8%, even when accounting for cost savings.

Its practices, such as undercutting competitors, suppressing wages, and squeezing suppliers, harm local economies by reducing employment and forcing smaller businesses to close.

Walmart’s “monopsony power” enables it to pay lower wages and dominate suppliers, compounding these effects.

The findings challenge the idea that low prices alone benefit communities, emphasizing long-term economic harm.

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Non-paywall link

  • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Their stores extract local spending dollars and transfer them to shareholders who live in gated communities.

    If they paid more in wages than a store made in profits they would close the store.

    • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Yes to the first part, but the second part is just how businesses work? If your gross income is lower than your expenses you’re operating at a loss and it’s not sustainable. Wages should absolutely be higher, though. Quick back-of-the-napkin math shows that last year Walmart made a net profit of over 11 billion dollars and employed just over 2 million people. They could boost every single employee’s pay by $5000 annually and still make a billion dollars in profit.

      • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Yes it is exactly how corporations work. That is the root cause of the problem.

        It should be no suprise that the corporations are sucking the country dry.

        The need is for an economic implementation that does not lead to death by parasite to most of the land.

      • spireghost@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        They could boost every single employee’s pay by $5000 annually and still make a billion dollars in profit.

        Except for the corporate employees / managers, which get stock options that are much higher than $5,000 annually ofc