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Originally Posted by jseal
wyndhy,
Which part? Which government?
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mostly US local and state, in the form of subsidies
I think a big part of Wal-Mart’s success and exponential growth here has been its unjustified and extensive use of public money, including more than a billion in tax breaks (or as much as two, depending on where you get your info and what sorts of info is included) such as: infrastructure assistance, land grants, tax-exempt bonds, low-cost financing, job training funds, and sales tax rebates. All this for a company that nets obscene amounts of money (to the tune of nearly 90 billion), pays execs obscene amounts of money (also in the millions, at least one to the tune of 20 million) and claims it cannot pay workers more. Thus leading to the issues Wanda pointed out; the government assistance Walmart employees qualify for and use (estimated at 2.5 billion in 2004). Plus the (in my opinion) frivolous property tax appeals, which are usually won because deep pockets and many lawyers soon outwit and outmaneuver the poorer local community’s resources.
There are the un-foreseen costs of infrastructure maintenance, as well, for things like utilities, roads, and security for these mega commercial areas that are built far from the already patrolled and maintained downtown areas. Include in those un-foreseen costs the harm it does to local businesses. When local businesses close, towns suffer from blighted areas and unemployment problems that must be addressed by local governments. Include also the loss of local business
owners who care about and contribute to their communities in various ways and whose inability to continue their local contributions ends up, once again, needing to be addressed by local government.
Why our local governments do this I cannot say. I do have theories about lobbyists, though
And as for most of the consumers who keep Walmart in business, they can hardly be blamed. As Lil said, often there ARE no other places to shop and if there are, when you’re flirting with poverty, it’s foolish to spend more when you can spend less. As for the consumers who spend their money at Walmart because they think they need another new, completely useless widget and buy it ‘cause it’s cheap, I have no excuse. They suck, too.