Is Wal-Mart good or bad for the economy?

There is a great amount of debate on this topic due to Wal-Mart’s huge nationwide impact. The two main thoughts on this argument are that Walmart destroys local businesses due to low cost products, and underpaid employees. The counter argument is that Wal-Mart supplies cheap user friendly goods to low income families, and supplies countless numbers of jobs. The debate is fueled by Walmart’s growing presence in the grocery store arena, and those that believe that Wal-Mart is too much of a monopoly and it’s destroying local economies.

Those that argue Wal-Mart has a negative impact on the economy complain that Wal-Mart’s low prices force other companies to go bankrupt because they cannot compete. They argue that Wal-Mart imports much of its goods from other countries and this makes it too difficult for the average mom and pop store to compete with them. They further argue that the jobs Wal-Mart gives are underpaid, and they are creating more and more jobs oversees rather than here in America. Those that do not think Wal-Mart is good for the economy believe that it is too difficult to compete with them, and its forcing quality out the door. They believe that Wal-Mart is an all for profit business that maximizes their profits by destroying American jobs.

Those that argue Wal-Mart has a positive impact due so because they believe that Wal-Mart’s cheaper product allow for families to save money on goods that would cost them more if they were to go to any other store. They would further argue that the jobs Wal-Mart creates are far more than the jobs that Wal-Mart outsources to other countries. Those that are in favor of Wal-Mart most frequently support American ingenuity and the business model behind Wal-Mart. It seems that more of the support for Wal-Mart is given by those that support a good business model rather than the quality of goods.