Is Walmart good for America? Essay

As the largest retailer in history, its no surprise that Walmart is the object glass of both vicious attacks and effusive praise. According to its own website, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates much than 8,000 stores, employs more than 2.1 million good deal, and sells more than $400 billion worth of goods in every year. Though this bulk intimidates those who fear for the viability of mom and pop retailers, Walmarts swell strength is that it devotes its considerable power to American consumers. Its size enables it to provide run that other retailers cannot, and it has deservedly become an integral part of the modern American economy.Criticisms of Walmarts effect on small retailers fall flat because of Americans quality in that effect. Consumption is the whole democratic component of the incorporate realness small retailers fail because Americans choose Walmart. Walmart provides cheaper, better, more companionable services than its competition. bit competing stores closings pr oduce touching hard-luck stories, the shift to Walmart is beneficial for society, because Walmart is much more in force(p) at every stage of its business.The benefits of this efficiency are less ain and more broadly spread than the costs to smaller competitors, but much(prenominal) dissemination of value demonstrates one of the best qualities of Walmart its egalitarianism. Walmart provides a good that is accessible to virtually all Americans. The 2006 book The Walmart Effect estimates that 97% of Americans live indoors twenty-five miles of a Walmart, and Walmarts low prices assure that the store is to a fault economically accessible. As long as consumers continue to choose Walmart (for perceivable reasons), the onus is on small retailers to find better ways to compete.The back up main argument against Walmart deals with its impact on suppliers. Because Walmart has such immense buying power, it carries great influence with manufacturers. Fortunately, Walmart uses its substanti al bargaining power in the interests of American consumers by demanding ever-decreasing prices. Though manufacturers often complain about this pressure, it forcesconstant innovation, which in the long run benefits consumers.Walmart has much to teach American businesses. Despite its size, Walmart is a paragon of corporate efficiency. It has compiled the largest sales data-set of any American retailer and analyzes this data using the secondment largest supercomputer in the world (trailing only the Pentagon). Aided by this number-crunching, Walmart excels at acute what its consumers want. Walmarts purchasing decisions thus reflect American preferences. In short, Walmart is a driving force in the American economy leading to smarter, more streamlined production, and (as always) lower prices for consumers.The benefits of Walmarts efficiency are not only economic, as illustrated by the companys rejoinder to Hurricane Katrina. Walmarts response to the hurricane was lauded even by its cr itics it donated more than $20 million worth of merchandise, including nutrition for 100,000 meals, and it promised jobs for all of its displaced workers. But what I wish to extol is not Walmarts largesse, which bore immediate public relations benefits, but rather the inferior of their efficient distribution system.The first supply truck to arrive at the Superdome after the hurricane came from Walmart, not from FEMA. The administrative particulars of Walmarts response to the hurricane, detailed in a study by Steven Horwitz, are both fascinating and inspiring. Walmarts existing distribution chain was and is able to deliver needed goods alacritous and more efficiently than a government agency, which (besides being inept) had no existing infrastructure to respond to the disaster.The Coast Guard, another organization praised for its post-Katrina efforts, was great for rescuing people from flooded houses, but it was incapable of providing them with sufficient supplies afterwards. W ithout the aid of Walmart, the aftermath of the hurricane would subscribe been even more catastrophic.Regardless of its reputation or its value to society, Walmart is present to stay. Consumption drives our daily lives and accounts for some 70% of Americas GDP. As long as Walmart continues to increase the accessibility and quality of consumption, it will roost Americas top retailer and continue to grow. Whether or not you choose to shop at Walmart, everyoneshould appreciate it as an outstanding American institution.