--In short, the problem's not Wal-mart; the problem is the inevitability of Wal-mart style organizations in a capitalist economy.
[WS:] I doubt. The problem with Wal Mart is two fold, policy choices made by government that create loopholes an labor and environment protection, and choices made by Wal mart management to exploit those loopholes. This can be supported, among other, by the fact that US corporations that supposedly cannot profit without paying substandard wages and cutting benefits in the US, somehow manage to do well in the EU where by law they have to pay higher wages and benefits. This means that they pay lower wages mainly because they choose to and can get away with it, rather than because "markets" force their hand.
What is more, cost of producing goods is a rather small fraction of the selling price - so corporations have a lot of leeway in varying either wages or prices.
Of course most executives or for that matter dictators do not do what they do as a matter of "personal choice," because they are greedy bastards, sadistic control freaks or both. No, they do it "out of necessity," for "god and country" and kindred bullshit excuses.
Wojtek