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In the booming town of Williston, North Dakota, where unemployment is less than 1 percent, Walmart, America's multinational chain of value stores notorious for paying low wages, starts off workers with an impressive hourly wage of $17.40.

According to Mark J. Perry, a full-time professor of economics at the Flint Campus of The University of Michigan, if the company paid less in this special town, which booming economically thanks to the "prolific" Bakken oil fields, Walmart would find it difficult to find workers.

"Walmart pays wages that reflect the economic conditions in a local market based on the supply and demand realities of the local labor market. In other words, Walmart can't really set wages independent of market forces and it's really at the mercy of the market in every local community. If Walmart offered the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in the Bakken area, it wouldn't be able to staff its stores," wrote Perry in an article for the American Enterprise Institute.

Perry highlighted the case of Walmart wages in Wilmington in a critique of the concept of a national minimum wage, arguing that it is an illogical way in which to determine compensation across the country.

"The fact that Walmart is paying almost two and-a-half times the minimum wage in Williston is evidence that a single, national minimum wage for every city, county, labor market in the country can't possibly make sense," said Perry.
"Even proponents of the minimum wage have to agree that a single national minimum can't be optimal for every labor market in the country. In that case, they would logically have to support thousands of minimum wages tailored to thousands of local communities, or maybe even more logically agree that minimum wages are unworkable," he noted.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/walmart-starts-employees-at-17-40-hour-in-williston-north-dakota-where-unemployment-is-0-9-percent-121445/
 
Using an extreme case to try and prove a general rule is just silly. In this case, anyone using ISN as a benchmark for just about any sort of economic marker is making a flawed argument.

Wal-Mart at the "mercy of the market?" GMAFB.
 
Kev3188 said:
Using an extreme case to try and prove a general rule is just silly. In this case, anyone using ISN as a benchmark for just about any sort of economic marker is making a flawed argument.

Wal-Mart at the "mercy of the market?" GMAFB.
 If you've not been to Williston, ND I really wish you'd just be quiet. YES, Wal-Mart is paying those wages. Now go to Craig's List and take note that the cheapest price there was $795 per month for a space and hook up for your RV, 2 Bedroom apartments go for around $2,600 per month and 3 bedroom ones for $3500 per month if you can find one.
 
So despite the apparent wage gain it is offset by the cost of living. At the end of the day Wal-Mart is still the low wage leader. Hate to burst your bubble Kev but in this case Wal-Mart is at the mercy of the free market.
 
BTW, the roughneckers there are making 6 figures and a union is nowhere to be found
 
Why be quiet? You just agreed with my very point.  Everything in ISN's completely skewed. What's happening there doesn't directly compare to, say, DAY. Yet even up there, Wal Mart is still lagging. 
 
No worries, SH, there's no bubble to burst because even in ISN, they're not at the mercy of anything. It's just convenient for them- or a RW think tank like AEI- to say they are. 
 
Kev3188 said:
Using an extreme case to try and prove a general rule is just silly. In this case, anyone using ISN as a benchmark for just about any sort of economic marker is making a flawed argument.

Wal-Mart at the "mercy of the market?" GMAFB.
I would have to say in this case I agree with Kev3188.
 
The flaw in your logic is that overall Wal-Mart payroll is subsidized by the taxpayer. There is no "mercy of the market" when government is covering part of your payroll. 
 
By the way Kev3188 I +1'd you back to 0.
 

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