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Walmart's Impact On The Local Economy Essay

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Walmart seems to have a store in every city or town that you have ever visited, they’re everywhere and they keep opening more and more stores all over the U.S. and the world. The real question is, does Walmart actually help the local economy? Some think yes, and others are quick to say no. This is because Walmart is a super chain, it’s so large that where ever they open, the area around it changes dramatically. Many businesses like to open near Walmart, because they tend to strive, except for the businesses that are in the same market, in that case Walmart ruins their business. They ruin other businesses by providing cheaper items than their competitor, which in return usually wins over the consumer. Walmart can also be a burden to small family owned stores in small towns that have been operating for years. The small family owned stores can’t compete because Walmart buys their products from the cheapest sources they can find, which in return gives them the opportunity to lower their prices to a point where no other store can match. …show more content…

The jobs Walmart creates are no doubt great for the locals, if jobs in the area are poor or rare. The National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that “homes in the half mile radius from a Walmart rose in value over 3%” (Riper). The NBER also concluded that an “additional Walmart per 100,000 residents increased the average obesity rate by 2.3%” (Riper). The current controversy is that Walmart doesn’t treat, or pay its employees enough, which could be said about a lot of businesses all over this country. I would like to touch on the fact that as it may be the case that they do not pay for what is given by their employees, it is still a job that offers benefits. “Walmart employs over 2 million people in the world, and your typical Walmart employee makes roughly $8.86 per hour, which is just shy of under 20 thousand dollars annually”

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