Wal-Mart quickly became the world's largest company thanks to its one-stop convenience and low prices. There is no doubt that Wal-Mart is a dominant force in the American and world economy. However, there is a clash between two different views on how Wal-Mart achieved this status. Wal-Mart's defenders say they are so successful because they know the market well and make good business decisions. The other side argues that Wal-Mart has only succeeded by eliminating all competition with its low prices. The only thing that matters to those who like the company is that they save consumers money thanks to their low prices, but that can't be said to all the smaller store owners that Wal-Mart has gone out of business , as Gary E. Hawkins . The CEO of a family-owned supermarket in New York said, "It would be a sad day in this country if we woke up one morning and all we found was a Wal-Mart on every corner." This is obviously a conflict of interest, and it is unclear whether Wal-Mart is beneficial or harmful to the economy. Wal-Mart has grown to enormous size largely due to the low prices it offers to its consumers, which appears to be an obvious boon to the economy. New England Consulting estimated that Wal-Mart saved U.S. customers $20 billion in 2002 alone. With the price cuts other retailers make to compete with them, the total reaches $100 billion. When you combine these savings with the convenience of being able to purchase food, clothing, electronics, gas and almost anything else you could want in one place, you have a winning formula. The low prices they charge get them large percentages of the consumer's money, which in turn allows them to charge such low prices... middle of the paper... their success. As Edward Weller of ThinkEquity Partners said: "I don't think Wal-Mart can ever be undervalued, they're really good." Bibliography1. Bianco, Anthony and Zellner, Wendy, BusinessWeek: Is Wal-Mart too powerful? October 6, 2003.2. Elliot, Dorinda and Powell, Bill, Time: Wal:Mart Nation, June 27, 2005.3. Forbes: http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/P100080.asp?GT1=5809, Wal-Mart's Next Victims.4. Kirkland, Rik, Fortune: Wal-Mart's RX for Healthcare, April 3, 2006.5. Lavelle, Marianne, U.S. News & World Report: Wal-Mart's Most Wanted, June 27, 2005.6. Mansfield, Edwin and Behravesh, Nariman, Economics U$A, WW Norton and Company, New York, 2005.7. McGinn, Daniel, Newsweek: Wal-Mart Hits the Wall, November 14, 2005.8. Zimmerman, Ann, Wall Street Journal: The Wal-Mart Boss's Unlikely Role: Company Defender in Chief, July. 26, 2005.