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Tova Wang
It already seems like an age-old question: “ Has Wal-Mart been good or bad?” This week, The Washington Post's Ezra Klein is the one asking and weighing the costs to Walmart’s workforce, its supply chain, and its competitors against the low prices the store offers consumers. He asserts:
Blog
Amy Traub
Today’s prolonged economic slump is fundamentally different from an ordinary recession. In the aftermath of a severe financial collapse, an economy is at risk of succumbing to a prolonged deflationary undertow. With asset prices reduced, the financial system damaged, unemployment high, consumer
Policy Briefs
New Mexico’s current political leadership is undoing state and regional policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions even as the risks posed by global warming to the state’s economy and population become more evident.[1] Experts foresee even more difficult problems in the future unless steps are
Research
On a talk show this past Sunday, Walmart worker Greg Fletcher spoke about the realities of struggling to provide for his family on the company's infamous low wages. David Frum, a conservative columnist at Newsweek, pointedly asked Greg whether he got the Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax refund meant
In the media
Annette Bernhardt
Walmart has been on something of a charm offensive where the public is concerned (and an intimidation offensive where its workers are concerned), hoping to blunt the impact of the Black Friday rebellion.
In the media
Laura Clawson
It’s the biggest shopping season on the calendar and retail companies are expecting hundreds of billions of dollars in sales.
Blog
Catherine Ruetschlin
"Everyone is part-timed to death at these stores," Walton said. "When they sign up for these shifts, it's 'I don't get enough hours, I'm dying for hours, so I'll work these shifts.' Until we do something to stop the part-timing of the workforce, we're going to see this happen." "Workers want to stop
In the media
Dave Jamieson
Forget the stampeding shoppers, the half-priced waffle irons, or the pepper spray wielding wackos: barring a federal intervention, the main event this Black Friday could turn out to be a showdown between organized labor and its arch corporate nemesis, Wal-Mart.
In the media
Jordan Weissmann
FORTUNE -- Thousands of Wal-Mart employees won't be pushing away from the Thanksgiving meal today to visit with family, watch football, or even clean the dishes. Instead, they'll be heading to work to welcome bargain-hunting shoppers.
In the media
Elizabeth G. Olson