Is Walmart good for the economy? Walmart is causing a calamity in our economy today. The mega retailer has grown to be the largest company in the world, grossing a staggering 446 billion dollars in 2011 and employing over 2.2 million people world wide. The giant corporation does not pay it's employees a living wage, and half of their employees can not afford a health care plan. With such a lack of financial stability many of Walmart employees are forced to seek government assistants programs, such as Welfare.
Around August of 2007, banks become afraid to loan money out due to the fact that they did not want to suffer from losing money yet again. “This led to the $700 billion bailout, and bankruptcies or government nationalization of Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, IndyMac Bank, and Washington Mutual. By December 2008, employment was declining faster than in the 2001 recession.”(useconomy.com). With so many foreclosures on houses, many americans were either homeless, or had bought a cheap apartment to keep them from being homeless. Because of the recession, and bad economic, many Americans have no jobs, and barely have a house.
WHY DID THE WALL STREET CRASH HAPPEN IN 1929? The Wall Street crash which happened on 29 October 1929 was one of the most depressing events in the history of America. This happened because people lost their wages b 60%, 14 million people were unemployed by 1933, banks went bust and also US trade slipped from $10 billion to $3 billion. The Wall Street crash happened due to some reasons: one reason was, the Americans were buying consumer goods on credit, especially cars and houses they did this because, they didn’t have enough money, and therefore if they get the money they will be able to pay. Another reason was that speculation was rife, because people believed the stock market was easy so 20 million Americans invested but only 1.5 million people had serious knowledge of the market.
Wal-Mart’s sales were growing, and that meant that Target’s sales would go down since consumers preferred Wal-Mart for Target. The inability of Target’s managers to identify a solution to the problem of dropping sales and develop a viable course of action also affected Target’s performance. Another micro environmental factor was the thriftiness of customers all over America, which endeared them to Wal-Mart. The impatience of Target’s shareholders and the pressure they exerted on the company’s board to deliver was also a major factor. The marketing strategies that were adopted by the management also failed to turn things around.
Wal-Mart’s sales were growing, and that meant that Target’s sales would go down since consumers preferred Wal-Mart for Target. The inability of Target’s managers to identify a solution to the problem of dropping sales and develop a viable course of action also affected Target’s performance. Another micro environmental factor was the thriftiness of customers all over America, which endeared them to Wal-Mart. The impatience of Target’s shareholders and the pressure they exerted on the company’s board to deliver was also a major factor. The marketing strategies that were adopted by the management also failed to turn things around.
Abstract This video assessment paper attempts to understand the moral dilemma of a corporate giant known as Walmart. After reviewing the documentary it was apparent that the filmmaker and producers are very anti-Walmart. Watching the film made me want to join forces with them and protest Walmart stores. The film discusses the low wages and poor health benefits, the anti-employee campaign filled with racism and sexism and anti-unionism. It also looked into undocumented workers, subsidies, and outsourcing (among other things) done by Walmart.
Everyday, wealthy consumers buy big-screen TV's, $100,000 Mercedes, and countless other luxury items. On the other side of the world, there are people who are homeless and lack of basic food and water to make a living. I agree that there is no reason I see why these prosperous people who can afford to do not donate to the needy if as you said ‘$200 in donations would help a sickly 2-year-old transform into a healthy 6-year-old——offering safe passage through childhood’s most dangerous years.’ (8). I believe it would be hard to find someone who would object to giving this relatively small amount of money if it meant saving a life. Nevertheless, I found the statement "I can see no escape from the conclusion that each one of us with wealth surplus to his or her essential needs should be giving most of it to help people suffering from poverty so dire as to be life-threatening" (21) unrealistic and extreme.
But for many Americans, the term “leftover money” does not exist in their vocabulary. Statistics from the Commerce Department prove, “The savings rate for Americans is the lowest it has been in 73 years” (Wallechinsky, para 10). Saving money is nearly impossible, let alone paying monthly bills. Also, benefits from jobs such as healthcare and bonuses are decreasing along with businesses being stricter about missing work. When Richard Oden was not able to return to work fast enough after getting a major surgery, unfortunately, “to help support his family, Oden had to dip into his 401(k) fund, paying a penalty for premature withdrawal” (Wallechinsky, para 8).
According to the National Alliance To End Homelessness it states: “That approximately 600,000 families and 1.35 million children are homeless” (http://www.endhomelessness.org). In today’s economical crisis many have lost their jobs, way of life and their homes. According to The Government Accountability Office it states: “The government spent 2.9 billion dollars for Federal homeless programs in 2009, a dollar amount typically allocated each year” (http://www.povertyinsights.org). Through this statement it shows us how much of our tax dollars are at work due to this rising problem. We can look in our own back yard (Fresno Co.) and we can see homelessness on the rise.
The Great Depression effected basically every nation in the world. For farmers, there crop prices were so low they did have enough money to pay off loans and many lost their farms and homes (Lowestein 1). In cities, thousands of jobless men roamed the streets, looking for work. Two thousand to three thousand applicants showed up for one two job openings, with no source many lost their homes and had to struggle to get food to feed their families (Garraty 4). “Many American children has not had milk in months in New York it was estimated that at least a fifth of the children in public schools were suffering from serious malnutrition” (Press 1).