The Small-Mart Revolution

Notes

Introduction

1. Simon Head, “Inside the Leviathan,” New York Review of Books, 16 December 2004, 80.

2. Wal-Mart’s website boasts, “Global Insight, an independent economic analysis firm, concluded that Wal-Mart saved working families over $2,300 per household last year.” See www.walmartfacts.com/community. This factoid—repeated uncritically in op-ed pages across America—is a classic case of misrepresentation by the corporate giant.

Even taking the Global Insight study at face value, the net savings per household—after accounting for depressed wages—is $1,046, less than half the number Wal-Mart uses. “The Economic Impact of Wal-Mart,” monograph (Global Insight, 2 November 2005): 18.

But the deception turns out to be greater, because Global ...