From Gil Smart’s column “Wal-Mart puts profits ahead of people”:
“As Lynne Stout, a professor at Cornell Law School and author of the book ‘The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public,’ put it in an interview with National Public Radio’s David Brancaccio, the ‘golden age’ of business was a time when companies existed not just to make a profit. They also built great products and took pride in livelihoods — that is, livable wages — for employees.
“In a broad sense, that philosophy is the reason this country became so prosperous. This philosophy led directly to the rise of the middle class. But for companies like Wal-Mart, that view of corporate responsibility now must seem passé, almost naive…
“For now, the corporation’s primary, overriding responsibility is to shareholders. And everyone else can get in line, if there’s anything less. The Walton family owns more than 50 percent of Wal-Mart’s stock; they want what they want. They’ll get it. And if that means employees have to live on peanuts — so be it…” (more)
WATCHDOG: Two wags of the tail for the above. Moreover, if Wal-Mart pushes up wages, it is likely that competitors will follow. It doesn’t have to be all at once.
