Jobs are Sparse in the Wal-Mart Economy

Economists worry over the decline of the American consumer, but what about the decline of the American worker?


It's a story told in towns across America: middle-class jobs are vanishing. Where once there were steel mills and auto plants, abandoned factories and Wal-Mart stores now stand. Companies that once employed hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers are now manufacturing overseas, abandoning not just individual workers, but entire communities.

Wal-Mart, and the companies that copy its business model, are largely responsible for the loss of these jobs. Wal-Mart's demands for ever-lower costs have forced dozens of American companies to stop producing in the U.S. and move operations overseas, where labor is cheaper and safety regulations are lax. The company often justifies these business practices as a necessary evil, claiming to save consumers money on the other end. On the heels of one of the worst retail holiday seasons in recent memory because Americans are losing their jobs, losing their homes, trying to pay for health care and worrying about a recession, it is evident that Wal-Mart's logic is deeply flawed. At some point we have to face facts: more and more Americans are skimming the edge of poverty.

Read Complete Story