I think over the years the layoffs in auto plants and other big unionized plants that take advantage of unemployment insurance annually are a big cost to consumers and tax payers. For 60 years this has been a regular cycle.
The employer pays for some of the cost for state unemployment insurance but the taxpayer does as well.
My point is that it is not just low end retail by big business that is subsidized in this manner.
True, but when working people in Auto Factories earn a high enough wage to live a modest lifestyle on and get good benefits and a pension.
The average full time Walmart Worker is on the other end of the spectrum.
It could be because one is unionized and the other is not, who knows.
The other thing Walmart does is import a huge amount of cheap stuff from China.
I shop at Walmart for a few things and they do provide a service to a lot of people, but there is a downsize of a Walmart coming to town.