Lesson #1: Hiring illegal immigrants is no big deal. They are just doing jobs that Americans don't want to do. Unless you're Wal-Mart:

A raid by federal, state and local authorities at a Wal-Mart Stores construction site in Pennsylvania netted about 125 arrests for alleged immigration violations.

Lesson #2: Price gouging is wrong. Making people pay higher prices that the market will bear is evil, and should be illegal. Unless you're Wal-Mart.

But the study did not address some of the most trenchant criticisms of the company. It did not compare Wal-Mart's benefits policies with those of its competitors, nor did it look at whether Wal-Mart's low-wage jobs lead employees to seek out government programs such as Medicaid. That issue was the catalyst for legislation passed earlier this year in both Suffolk County and New York City to force the big-box retailers to pay a greater share of their employees' health benefits.

Wal-Mart's study also largely avoided hard-to-quantify social concerns, such as whether Wal-Mart diverts sales from downtown shopping districts and, in doing so, damages the character of America's small towns and neighborhoods. Even less tangible effects -- such as the retailer's using its market dominance to pressure musicians into changing lyrics and CD cover art that it deems objectionable -- are not addressed in Wal-Mart's study.