The Wal-Mart effect : how the world´s most powerful company really works-- and how it´s transforming the American economy / Charles Fishman.

´New material: Wal-Mart talks back´--Cover.

Incluye bibliografía.

Who knew shopping was so important? -- Sam Walton´s ten-pound bass -- Makin bacon, a Wal-Mart fairy tale -- The squeeze -- The man who said no to Wal-Mart -- What do we actually know about Wal-Mart? -- Salmon, shirts, and the meaning of low prices -- The power of pennies -- Wal-Mart and the decent society -- Epilogue: Peoria, September 2005.

Wal-Mart is not just the world´s largest company--it is the largest company in the history of the world. It is estimated that the company´s low prices save American consumers 0 billion a year--but the #1 employer in 37 states has never let a union in the door. Though 70% of Americans now live within a 15-minute drive of a Wal-Mart, we have not even begun to understand the true power of the company. We know about the lawsuits and the labour protests, but what we don´t know is how profoundly the ´Wal-Mart effect´ is changing our America´s economy, our workforce, our communities, and our environment. Journalist Fishman takes us on a behind-the-scenes investigative expedition, interviewing 25 high-level ex-executives and a host of Wal-Mart´s suppliers, and journeying to the ports and factories where Wal-Mart´s power is warping the very structure of the world´s market.--From publisher description.