Richard Hastings asks what the world would be like without Wal-Mart, and argues that the company’s critics entirely miss the point. “The world’s middle class is changing, partly due to Wal-Mart’s large buying capacity for consumer electronics, toys, bicycles, sports and recreational gear like fishing gear, shooting sports, and camping—activities that require skilled workers and technologically advanced factories to make these products. If Wal-Mart didn’t exist, what would happen to the rest of the world’s middle class?”
