Big Box Miracle by mike · 2006-06-26 Together with a few sister big box stores (Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot), Wal-Mart accounts for roughly 50% of Americas much vaunted productivity growth edge over Europe during the last decade. Fifty percent! Similar advances in wholesaling supply chains account for another 25%! The notion that Americans have gotten better at everything while other rich countries have stood still is thus wildly misleading. The US productivity miracle and the emergence of Wal-Mart-style retailing are virtually synonymous. More here. Related