The Walmart Effect

On my most recent plane trip, I finished a book by Charles Fishman called The Wal-mart Effect. The aftertaste of the book was very similar to watching Supersize Me. Every time I watch that movie, I get a huge craving for McDonalds, which is really strange because I seem to only eat there once or twice a year. I really felt like shopping at Wal-mart after reading about its operations, despite what I've learned about it. Overall, I really enjoyed reading it for a couple reasons:

1) It's very even handed. Lots of vitriol has been spewed over Wal-mart, but the author takes a very fair look at every controversial topic in the companies history. He paints thrift as a virtue and a curse; he equally covers inventors who hit it big with Wal-mart and others who got squeezed into bankruptcy trying to lower costs; he treads evenly between legal and ethical responsibility. All of it lends a lot of ethos to his arguments, and makes the reading more enjoyable than if he had preached from a pulpit instead.

2) It's interesting. The author traces all the problems of Wal-mart to its goal to deliver the lowest price possible, and handing that price to the consumer with only taking a small (fractions of a cent per item) margin for itself. Initially a virtue that we respect and appreciate, he shows it can lead to negative consequences for its suppliers, customers, and the community. He takes on a massive project (trying to describe the many relationships between all the people in the Wal-mart web) but he makes it engaging for the reader, which is of course a plus.

3) He's a good writer. He found a lot of employees, ex-employees of suppliers, CEO's, inventors, and other people to interview. This is a tough task, given how notoriously quiet Wal-mart is when it comes to talking to the media. He also writes great descriptions of the products he opens his chapters with.

Overall, I'm not sure how this book will effect me. I'm not a big shopper, but when I do shop I usually do so cheaply (as many of you know). But Wal-mart is kind of out of my way in terms of food and stuff, so I don't really go there that often. I'm unsure if I'll feel guilty or not for shopping there. They make everyone in their ecosystem more efficient, which is good, but I know that it comes at a price. I can handle the outsourcing of jobs, but I'm not sure how cool I am with taking advantage of other countries' lax labor laws. Anyways, it's something for me to think about the next time I enter the big box.