In Search of a City: Walmart’s True Cost
Walmart is by no means the only big-box predator in Ohio, but it is clearly the worst. On June 11, Business First published a list of the top ten employers in Ohio whose employees qualify for public assistance. At the top of the list with 15,002 employees is – you guessed it – Walmart.
If public subsidies paid only for social services for Walmart employees, we would be lucky, but public funding goes far beyond social services. Taxpayer funding of roadway improvements, utilities, tax abatements and other subsidies make the behemoth’s low prices a mirage.
Those costs are merely the direct ones. The indirect costs of Walmart create another set of economic and social expenses. Walmart has almost single-handedly destroyed most walkable communities, gutting the downtown retail districts of virtually every small and medium city in the state and eliminating entire communities of retail entrepreneurs.
I sometimes wonder about the lesser of two evils: selling drugs to supplement one’s income or shopping at Walmart to stretch one’s income.
Tags: public assistance, subsidies, tax abatements, taxpayers, Walmart
July 20th, 2010 at 9:18 am
From what I understand, they treat their employees terribly as well.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
It is so distressing when I hear friends say, “I know Walmart is bad, but I shop there because the prices are so low.” They just don’t get it.
July 27th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
WALMART is the source of the small business demise.I will pay extra to not spend one thin dime at WALMART. Simply put WALMART is pure evil.