The Wal-Mart Effect: How an Out-of-town Superstore Became a Superpower

Wal-Mart is the biggest company on earth, ever. Around 7.2 billion people shop there in a year – more than one visit for every person on the planet. It’s expanding across the globe from Brazil to Eastern Europe. And it has the power to change our world … Charles Fishman takes us into the heart of the most successful superstore in history to show how the ‘Wal-Mart effect’ shapes lives everywhere, whether for overnight cleaners in America, bicycle-makers in China or salmon farmers in Chile. Now Wal-Mart’s influence is so great it can determine everything from the design of deodorant to the shape of a town, working practices to market forces themselves, Fishman asks: how did a shop manage to do all this? And what will the ultimate cost of low prices be?