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November 29, 2005
Progressive Wal-Mart
A very interesting piece by Sebastian Mallaby:
- Wal-Mart's critics allege that the retailer is bad for poor Americans. This claim is backward: As Jason Furman of New York University puts it, Wal-Mart is "a progressive success story." Furman advised John "Benedict Arnold" Kerry in the 2004 campaign and has never received any payment from Wal-Mart; he is no corporate apologist. But he points out that Wal-Mart's discounting on food alone boosts the welfare of American shoppers by at least $50 billion a year. The savings are possibly five times that much if you count all of Wal-Mart's products.
These gains are especially important to poor and moderate-income families. The average Wal-Mart customer earns $35,000 a year, compared with $50,000 at Target and $74,000 at Costco. Moreover, Wal-Mart's "every day low prices" make the biggest difference to the poor, since they spend a higher proportion of income on food and other basics. As a force for poverty relief, Wal-Mart's $200 billion-plus assistance to consumers may rival many federal programs. Those programs are better targeted at the needy, but they are dramatically smaller. Food stamps were worth $33 billion in 2005, and the earned-income tax credit was worth $40 billion.
Set against these savings for consumers, Wal-Mart's alleged suppression of wages appears trivial. Arindrajit Dube of the University of California at Berkeley, a leading Wal-Mart critic, has calculated that the firm has caused a $4.7 billion annual loss of wages for workers in the retail sector. This number is disputed: Wal-Mart's pay and benefits can be made to look good or bad depending on which other firms you compare them to. When Wal-Mart opened a store in Glendale, Ariz., last year, it received 8,000 applications for 525 jobs, suggesting that not everyone believes the pay and benefits are unattractive.
But let's say we accept Dube's calculation that retail workers take home $4.7 billion less per year because Wal-Mart has busted unions and generally been ruthless. That loss to workers would still be dwarfed by the $50 billion-plus that Wal-Mart consumers save on food, never mind the much larger sums that they save altogether. Indeed, Furman points out that the wage suppression is so small that even its "victims" may be better off. Retail workers may take home less pay, but their purchasing power probably still grows thanks to Wal-Mart's low prices.
…
Wal-Mart's critics also paint the company as a parasite on taxpayers, because 5 percent of its workers are on Medicaid. Actually that's a typical level for large retail firms, and the national average for all firms is 4 percent. Moreover, it's ironic that Wal-Mart's enemies, who are mainly progressives, should even raise this issue. In the 1990s progressives argued loudly for the reform that allowed poor Americans to keep Medicaid benefits even if they had a job. Now that this policy is helping workers at Wal-Mart, progressives shouldn't blame the company. Besides, many progressives favor a national health system. In other words, they attack Wal-Mart for having 5 percent of its workers receive health care courtesy of taxpayers when the policy that they support would increase that share to 100 percent.
Posted by tedb at November 29, 2005 09:32 AM
My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten26160 at January 7, 2007 07:01 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten98197 at January 10, 2007 09:16 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten43555 at January 18, 2007 05:56 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten9522 at January 22, 2007 01:16 PM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten32011 at January 27, 2007 06:32 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten12057 at January 28, 2007 10:35 AM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten54689 at January 28, 2007 06:29 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten5445 at January 28, 2007 07:55 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten84549 at January 29, 2007 01:00 AM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten57439 at January 29, 2007 08:28 AM
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Comment by: Sten42536 at January 30, 2007 07:39 AM
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Comment by: Sten69866 at January 30, 2007 03:17 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten68928 at January 30, 2007 05:39 PM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten89755 at January 31, 2007 02:34 PM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten40831 at February 1, 2007 12:15 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten81494 at February 1, 2007 03:30 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten91959 at February 1, 2007 03:50 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten6057 at February 1, 2007 05:28 AM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten73326 at February 1, 2007 12:24 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten1125 at February 1, 2007 10:28 PM
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Comment by: Sten66952 at February 2, 2007 03:39 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten18158 at February 3, 2007 12:23 AM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten50305 at February 3, 2007 01:12 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten73310 at February 3, 2007 06:15 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten68493 at February 3, 2007 07:28 AM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten57045 at February 3, 2007 10:45 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten1895 at February 4, 2007 02:09 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten60056 at February 4, 2007 03:09 AM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten3040 at February 4, 2007 06:42 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten53462 at February 4, 2007 12:00 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten13775 at February 4, 2007 08:35 PM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten86034 at February 5, 2007 12:32 AM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten45871 at February 5, 2007 04:25 PM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten77775 at February 5, 2007 07:04 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten97139 at February 5, 2007 09:13 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten12462 at February 5, 2007 10:38 PM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten94441 at February 6, 2007 03:25 AM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten85068 at February 6, 2007 07:49 AM
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