New Wal-Mart stores have had a big effect on small communities in the United States.

VOA: special.2009.07.17

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

FORBES: Magazine Article

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

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