In 2012, Walmart banked $22.1 billion in profit and paid $5.3 billion in federal taxes. But if it had increased wages for its workers from $7.25 (the current minimum wage) to $12.50, it would have simply deducted the expense from its taxable income and would likely have passed along the increase to its customers, estimated at 46 cents per shopping trip or $12.49 a year for the average shopper who spends more than a $1,000, so there would have been no impact at all on pocketable profits. In fact, as that anti-Semite, Nazi-loving, union-busting Henry Ford realized, paying his workers a decent wage meant they could buy cars from Ford.
Raising the minimum wage would increase GDP between $11.8 and $15.2 billion over the next year and would create 100,000 or more net new jobs, Demos reported. What's more, the increased purchasing power of low-wage employees would generate $4 to $5 billion additional annual sales for the retail sector itself, according to a separate analysis by the University of California Berkeley Labor Center.
Instead, Walmart uses money it could apply to pay a living wage to local advertising designed to convince consumers how wonderful a company Walmart is, and all the wonderful career opportunities it provides its workers.
The Walton Family is worth $144.4 billion - the six Waltons control more wealth than the bottom 40% of all Americans (that's 120 million people).
Read the Demos Report: A Higher Wage Is Possible
