WAL-MART: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Deep Discount

Wal-Mart and China are a joint venture, and both are determined to dominate the U.S. economy

--Gary Gereffi

Professor of Sociology, Duke University

Wal-Mart was the subject of two documentaries this week: The Age of Wal-Mart appearing on CNBC, and Is Wal-Mart Good For America? appearing on PBS's Frontline. The quote above is from the Frontline piece. You can read a transcript of the entire interview with Professor Gereffi here. [As an aside, I am awestruck by the wealth of resources Frontline brings to the web. Complete transcripts of the documentary, transcripts of their interviews, additional readings, historical documents, annotated timelines, and streaming video of the entire documentary, the works.]

I will point you toward some other interesting reading in this vein:
The Wal-Mart You Don't Know, FastCompany
With a small-town culture, Wal-Mart dominates, CNBC
Don't Blame Wal-Mart for the Wal-Mart Economy, Slate
How big can it grow?, The Economist

Happy reading.