Neil Cavuto interviewed liberal radio host Richard Fowler about Walmart’s plan to start low-cost checking accounts. Fowler didn’t just disapprove of the checking accounts but of Walmart’s effect on the economy in general. It seemed to drive Cavuto crazy.
Fowler called Walmart’s plan “a scary idea.” He said Walmart can “barely take care of their employees” and “any economist out there” says Walmart’s effect “on small businesses and Main Streets all across this country is pretty much shut them down.”
But Cavuto didn’t seem to think that was of much concern. “What’s wrong with people having a no-cost cheap banking alternative to the big banks that are out there?” he asked.
Fowler said he’s not against free banking and that he can name a number of credit unions that offer it. “When Walmart enters the market Neil, you know as well as I do it’s called a crowd-out effect. It crowds out all the other banks and all the other businesses.”
Cavuto insisted, “I don’t own Walmart stock, I’m not a Walmart apologist.” As Heather at Crooks and Liars noted, that’s exactly what Cavuto behaved like. If nothing else, he had some kind of emotional investment in Walmart. He said, “I do know that a lot of Americans benefit from $4 prescription drugs. I know a lot of average Americans …benefit from cheaper groceries, cheaper Tide, the kind of stuff they can’t get elsewhere.”
Fowler replied, “You can go to Walmart and get cheaper things, but at the same time …it causes depreciation in wages.”
“What about the people who didn’t have a wage? …Now they have a wage, minimum or otherwise,” Cavuto said demandingly.
Fowler acknowledged that yes, Walmart “might add a couple jobs here, a couple jobs there.” But, he continued, the company “also causes folks to lose their jobs because smaller grocery stores, smaller pharmacies, and – if they go to banking – now smaller banks, will get rid of their employees.”
Cavuto interrupted. “You cannot deny that net net, Walmart has added to this economy or you wouldn’t be whining about them like you are. You don’t raise the same concerns with a Costco.”
By then, Cavuto seemed to lose what little patience he had with Fowler’s refusal to look at Walmart through the same rose-colored glasses.
Gawker has some exposés from Walmart employees that paint quite a different picture of what life is like as both an employee and a customer.
Kudos to Fowler for maintaining his composure in the face of Cavuto’s rudeness and for making his points effectively, too.
Watch the discussion from the September 24 Your World, via Crooks and Liars.