The combination of pandemic-driven wage pressures, supply chain issues, and occasional local government disapprovals has made life more difficult for dollar store owners. Should we celebrate?
Not really; dollar stores are a symptom, not the cause, of what I call the dollar store economy. The cause is the hollowing out of the middle class as the result of globalization, technological change, and tax and regulatory policies favoring capital over labor. If we succeed in rebuilding a prosperous middle class through the expansion of the welfare state, there will no longer be as much demand for dollar stores, and they will expire from natural causes. Until then, dollar stores thrive because they meet the needs of struggling American workers. They are, unfortunately, an essential safety valve in today’s economy.