Retailing has built-in efficiencies. Wal-mart could charge higher prices, but would its customers pay them? I'd personally be willing to pay a dollar or two more to see to it the company's employees were paid better. Beyond that, for most people, its an issue of diminishing returns. Wal-mart also has a responsibility to its shareholders, to return the company a reasonable profit so it can pay them dividends. Wal-mart also pays taxes that benefit the community. Of course Wal-mart could pay its employees more. The real question is how much more before it loses the advantage that draws customers, namely lower prices. When one goes beyond a certain point, Wal-mart is going to be punished not for being socially insensitive, but for being a successful business.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)