Has the Walmart Corporation played a huge role in the loss of American jobs?
Beginning in late 2000, to win Wal-Mart’s business, suppliers were forced to close U.S. factories and source overseas, with millions of American jobs lost in the process. Wal-Mart alone accounts for 10 percent of all imports from China, and its shelves bear little trace of the “Buy America” philosophy of its’ founder. No other area has felt the “Wal-Mart effect” more than retailing. The retail giant now accounts for 35% of food sales, 30% of consumer staples, 25% of drug store products and 15% of magazines, books and apparel. Entire Chambers of Commerce have been wiped out with the arrival of a new “superstore,” while “greeting customers at Wal-Mart” has replaced “hamburger flipping” in the national debate over wages and trade. Because of the large food market Walmart has captured, stores such as Safeway, Albertson’s and Kroger are barely surviving. The pricing cutting that Wal-Mart has done in food to “run” the competition out of business makes it impossible for the others to survive
