This is one reason people do not understand how the economy really works–because transcribers of press releases (formerly known as "journalists") don’t do their jobs. A basic point of journalism is tell the reader, fairly soon, WHY something happened…well, if you read this story, you don’t get there until it’s way too late:

Investors last week expressed dissatisfaction with members of the board of Wal-Mart Stores at some of the highest levels ever disclosed by the company in electronic filings, according to a Monday filing by the company.

   In a 17-paragraph story, you don’t read about the WHY until paragraph 11:

Several institutional investors that opposed the re-election of board members said they were reacting to a bribery scandal involving the company’s Mexican subsidiary.

   If anyone bothered to read that far, and few people do, then, they might get the real context of what is bubbling in the cesspool called Wal-Mart. But, there, in a nutshell, is a great example about the failure of the media to do its proper job.