Business leaders, politicians and academics have debated the "Wal-Mart effect" on the U.S. economy for several years now.

FORBES: Magazine Article

That's the conclusion of a report just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which studied the "Wal-Mart effect" for 89 counties in its region over the past two decades.

FORBES: Magazine Article

To measure the "Wal-Mart effect" on profits across different industries, Forbes analyzed information compiled by Revere to compare the percentage of sales that various firms generated through Wal-Mart in fiscal 2006 to the gross margins those firms produced during the same period.

FORBES: The Wal-Mart Squeeze

To measure the "Wal-Mart effect" on profits across different industries, Forbes analyzed information compiled by Revere to compare the percentage of sales that various firms generated through Wal-Mart in fiscal 2006 to the gross margins those firms produced during the same period, as compiled by FactSet .

FORBES: Magazine Article

That's the conclusion of a report just released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which studied the "Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) effect" for 89 counties in its region over the past two decades.

FORBES: Wal-Mart Is Good For You

But other big pistons in the economic machine--institutional stock traders--are now basing more decisions on a different type of Wal-Mart effect.

FORBES: Magazine Article