What Left and Right Both Miss About the Wal-Mart Debate

By Aussiegirl

Truth be told, American business is addicted to corporate welfare, and that's why most corporations are decidedly and increasingly left-leaning in their political outlook and support. Beware the military industrial complex -- but beware the increasing coziness of business and government.

TCS Daily - What Left and Right Both Miss About the Wal-Mart Debate

Once again, Wal-Mart is being used as a political football. On the left, politicians and pundits use Wal-Mart as the poster child for living wages and mandatory health care benefits. On the right, Wal-Mart is held up as a paragon of corporate efficiency.


Interestingly, however, both the left and right implicitly cast Wal-Mart in the role of free market capitalist. What's missing from the debate is the extent to which the Wal-Mart story really is the antithesis of laissez-faire capitalism. When you look under the rug, it turns out that Wal-Mart is a beneficiary of corporate welfare.