Can we really "save money and live better" by shopping at Walmart? Walmart provides a wide range of goods,  ranging from groceries, to clothing and electronics, all at affordable prices. However, these low prices come at a cost. While consumers reap the benefits of these lower prices, suppliers and other businesses are pressured to produce products for less, which many local manufacturers cannot supply. In response,  suppliers are forced to send their jobs overseas to produce the product for less. So which is more important? The consumer or the suppliers?

                On one hand, Walmart can be praised for producing a variety of affordable products  that are available to consumers. It allows an exchange of goods at a low price that benefits everyone. Adam Smith, the "father of modern economics,"  argues that free trade makes both sides better off. After all,  who would trade if they were going to lose from it? The average family of four spends over $4,000 a year at Walmart. Walmart especially benefits those with the lowest incomes by offering cheaper prices for similar goods and give them leeway in their budget that they can direct towards other things. Critics often protest that Walmart is offering prices that are too low to match, but ultimately it is up to the consumer to decide where to shop, and the government has no right to restrict trade on a business for merely doing well.

                However, Walmart has been under recent scrutiny for neglecting its employees. Walmart, the biggest private employer in the world, hands out pitifully low wages to its employees.  H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, released that the average employee wage is around $10 an hour. The worst part; Walmart can easily afford to raise pay for its low-wage workers by $5.83 an hour, to an average wage of $14.89 and still keep its prices the same. Walmart has also been known for its notoriously poor health benefits. Walmart spends about 27 percent less on health benefits than do large retailers as a whole. This combination of poor wages and benefits recently led employees of a Walmart in Ohio to set out storage bins in an employee-only area, inviting employees to donate food to each other, "so associates in need [could] enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.”

                Walmart has been a revolutionary in the retailing field. They provide inexpensive products to thrifty consumers that benefit by spending less. Walmart has basically everything, and is basically a one stop shop for all of you necessities. But at what cost? To get its low prices, Walmart forces suppliers to relinquish some of their potential income or turn to outsourcing.  Its employees are paid an unlivable wage, and its health benefits are nearly non-existent. No wonder 45% of its workers quit every year.

Works Cited

"Daily Kos." : Walmart Could Pay Workers $14.89 an Hour without Raising Prices. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

"The Ludwig Von Mises Institute." The Ultimate Pro-WalMart Article. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Seggerman, Suzanne. "Does Obama Play Video Games?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

"Video Games ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

"Walmart." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

"The Wal-Mart You Don't Know | Fast Company | Business Innovation." Fast Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.