By Barbara Thau
NEW YORK–With 19 days left as chief executive officer of Walmart Stores, this morning Lee Scott challenged the retail industry at the National Retail Federation’s annual show to take “bold and decisive” action to help end the nation’s ills, listing the “shameful” reality of 47 million uninsured Americans and an addiction to foreign oil among them. During his keynote address, he also said the country must come up with an effective energy policy.
“We cannot afford to postpone solving these problems,” Scott said. “The hard questions rarely get asked during the good times. Unfortunately, it often takes a crisis to change,” he said, referencing the dire state of the economy and the retail industry. He urged the retail community to work with the incoming presidential administration to affect change.
“Government can’t do it alone,” Scott said. “The new Congress and president bring high expectations of change.”