SA should welcome Wal-Mart

The General Secretary of Uni Global Union, Philip Jennings laments the Competition Commission as “a toothless tiger in facing the might of Walmart” (Business Day 22 February 2011).The simple truth is that the increased competition that Walmart brings to SA will make ordinary South African’s better off by lowering the price of goods in SA.

No one is forced to shop at Wal-Mart and no one is forced to work there either. The reason people shop at Wal-Mart and other mass retailers is because the goods are generally cheaper. Moreover, Wal-Mart does not hold a gun to the unemployed’s head, forcing them to work the aisles and act as tellers – they choose to do so, rather than face the bleak alternative of being unemployed in SA.

Author: Jasson Urbach is an economist with the Free Market Foundation. The views expressed in the article are the author’s.

FMF Policy Bulletin/ 22 February 2011