Why Aren’t Wages Rising? The Answer Sounds a Lot Like Monopoly (Episode 42)

Date: 22 Mar 2018 | posted in: Building Local Power, Podcast, Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Marshall Steinbaum, a labor economist and research director at the Roosevelt Institute, sits down with Stacy Mitchell to discuss what is keeping American’s wages low and the prevalence of monopsony in our economy.… Read More

When It Comes to Working People, Amazon Isn’t Innovative at All

Date: 7 Feb 2017 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

When shoppers interact with Amazon, they see an innovator. But behind the scenes, Amazon relies on a labor model that looks a lot more like the past than the future. This fact sheet that breaks down how this powerful corporation is undermining working people — and what we need to do.… Read More

Walmart’s Latest “Buy America” Sham

Date: 21 Aug 2013 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In a way, Walmart’s Buy America program represents the home stretch of the economic transformation the company set in motion decades ago, when it set out to replace the American middle class, rooted in small business ownership and unionized jobs, with a vast underclass that has little choice but to rely on Walmart’s shoddy, short-lived products.… Read More

What to Do About Wal-Mart

Date: 5 Dec 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As the company’s misdeeds pile up in the public consciousness, it can be tempting to define the problem of Wal-Mart as one of a bad apple—a rogue company gone awry in an otherwise sound economic system.

Wal-Mart has indeed attained a scale that puts it in a category all its own, and there’s no question that it is leading a race to the bottom. But others are running that race too. Target’s wages are as poor and its health benefits as out of reach. Home Depot and Lowe’s have crushed thousands of independent hardware stores. Best Buy has its main sourcing office Shanghai, where it relies on the same dismal factories.

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