by Derek Campbell

Created on: November 30, 2009

Walmart-Do Not Pass GO

One of the greatest challenges America faces today is corporate monopolization. Much like the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, broken up in 1982, Wal-Mart is quickly being recognized as a troublesome monopoly. They have not limited themselves to the United States for they are the largest retailer in the world. Small businesses across the country have been feeling Wal-Marts wrath for years. Charitable they aren't but rather they invest in more stores and anti- environmental candidates. Economies are at stake and it's time to examine the facts.

A corporate monopoly is a market for a good or service that is controlled by a single seller. Take for example Standard Oil which was broken up in 1911 for having complete control over oil sales within the U.S. Without opposing sellers there is no such thing as competitive prices, leaving no limit to what that single corporation can charge for their product. Wal-Mart has quickly climbed the corporate ladder and is shaping up to be quite a problem.

The biggest threat Wal-Mart poses to this country is becoming a monopoly. Selling just about every item on the market gives the company an edge over smaller more specialized businesses. The opening of a single Wal-Mart superstore can result in a mass closing of local suppliers; food markets, electronics stores, pharmacies, and automotive stores to name a few. Slowly Wal-Mart's have been popping up across the country and everywhere they go small business seem to disappear. Not only do they sell just about any product you can think of but it sells them for pennies less than privately owned small companies forcing them out of business.

In 2004 a new Wal-Mart was built just about every day. In 93 percent of American households at least one person shops at its stores and still it expands uncontrollably (Shin). With numbers like that the U.S market has almost become saturated by this superstore yet the Company has no plans on putting construction on hold. Wal-Mart could soon become a problem in many other countries as it dominates the market here.

Wal-Mart has thrived in small suburban areas for years but as it tries to expand into bigger and better cities problems arose. Cities and towns across the country have stopped waiting for the federal government to step in and instead have taken matters into their own hands. Take Boston for example, last year Wal-Mart began talk of pursuing land for a new store. Almost immediately this caused public uproar.

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