Last Thursday, Al Lunsford noted the Los Angeles Times report of Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott’s answer to a question about providing a “so-called livable wage:”

“Scott said Wal-Mart and other retailers don’t have the kind of profit margins that allow them to bring workers into the middle class the way that manufacturing jobs did for earlier generations. ‘Retail does not perform that role anywhere in the world,’ he said.”

This is an interesting premise from a man who, according to Forbes Magazine makes a considerable living in retail.

As for margin, Fortune reports Wal-Mart profits of more than $10 billion on 2004 sales of $288 billion.

How much is enough? And for whom? More on this soon…