The Wal-Mart Effect

The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works–and How It’s Transforming the American Economy
by Charles Fishman

I grew up shopping at Wal-Mart, and during my time at Black & Decker, I witnessed the copany in action from a whole new perspective.

I was hesitant to read this book. I fully expected it to be a raving anti-capitalist memorandum on the “fat cats” in “big business” laying seige to decency itself. I was proved wrong. The beginning of the book is an insightful look into the humble beginnings of Wal-Mart, and it’s ernest and unwaivering efforts to live up to its mission: “Always low prices. Always.”

The picture becomes less rosy as the book wears on, though it is consistently emphasized that the “Wal-Mart Effect” is complex and nuanced, and not wholly negative.

I have a good friend who has done market research consulting work for Wal-Mart in recent months, and who has also read “The Wal-Mart Effect.” He believes that the book is already out of date, as many of the issues brought to bear in the book have changed significantly since its publishing. This may be the case, but the book speaks to an issue larger than Sam Walton’s retail machine. With only a handful of notable exceptions, Wal-Mart plays by the rules. And yet they seem to have somehow defeated the rules as they exist today. I am never an advocate of special restrictions on businesses of a certain size; I believe that all businesses, small and large, should play by the same rules. But that said, how can we ensure that the big-boxes, and Wally-World in particular, have enough competition to keep markets free and fair?

I highly recommend this book. It is eye-opening, and never one-dimensional. It is concisely written, and never presumptuous. This is not a book about the author or the author’s outlook, but on Wal-Mart and its many various implications for American capitalist society.