Monopoly

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National Rural Grocery Summit: "Trustbusting Makes a Comeback"

Luke Gannon

June 22, 2022

ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell gave a barnburner keynote address at the National Rural Grocery Summit, where she detailed how monopolistic corporations are squeezing independent businesses and farmers out of the market — and the antimonopoly comeback that is fighting to resurrect our antitrust laws.READ MORE

In Times Union: NY Needs Better Laws to Deal with Monopolies

Ron Knox

May 27, 2022

Ron Knox and Katy Milani write in Times Union about how the New York 21st Century Antitrust Act would help stop the abuses of corporate titans and "return power and freedom to regular New Yorkers."READ MORE

ILSR Calls for New Merger Standards to Halt Concentration, Revive Local Economies

Stacy Mitchell

April 27, 2022

In 1982, the two agencies charged with overseeing America’s antimonopoly laws — the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission — radically weakened their policy governing mergers. Now the agencies are embarking on an overhaul of that policy. In this comment letter, ILSR details how current enforcement policy deviates from the anti-merger laws passed by Congress, describes the consequences, and outlines as set of recommendations for updating the policy to stop concentration and revive local economies.READ MORE

2022 Independent Business Survey: Top Challenges and Policy Priorities

ILSR

March 30, 2022

ILSR surveyed 908 small, independent businesses across across the country. We asked about the challenges they face and the policies they believe would improve the survival and success of independent businesses.READ MORE

Issue Brief: Handcuffed by the Courts

Ron Knox

March 8, 2022

Beginning in the late 1970s, a series of Supreme Court cases upended U.S. antitrust laws — laws that were once the linchpin of a comprehensive, democratic check on corporate power. This issue brief traverses the history and argues that Congress must take action to undo these pro-monopoly decisions.READ MORE

In Financial Times: The Innovations We Lose if We Don’t Break Up Big Tech

Susan Holmberg

February 16, 2022

In the Financial Times, Susan Holmberg details the evidence showing that in their quest to maintain dominance tech giants are in fact killing new ideas, limiting new inventions and blocking new businesses from getting a foothold.READ MORE

Recent

In the Minnesota Reformer: Can Amazon Compete?

Luke Gannon

June 22, 2022

As Amazon dominates the shipping services market and makes record profits, small businesses, warehouse workers, and delivery drivers pay the price. Stacy Mitchell wrote in the Minnesota Reformer how Sen. Amy Klobuchar's bill will put a stop to this predatory behavior and force tech giants to compete on a level playing field.READ MORE

Listen: What Could Possibly Go Right? Finding Our Muscle as Citizens

Luke Gannon

May 27, 2022

Vicki Robin, host of the podcast “What Could Possibly Go Right?” asks ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell, “In this moment of great turmoil what promise do you see on the horizon?” In other words, what could possibly go right? READ MORE

In The American Prospect: Monopoly on Tap

Luke Gannon

May 25, 2022

The beer industry is in the midst of an unprecedented economic shift, with rapid consolidation and rampant monopoly power threatening our favorite local breweries. Ron Knox writes in The American Prospect how Reyes, the largest beer distributor in America, has bought its way to dominance.READ MORE

2022 Independent Business Survey: Snapshot of Amazon Marketplace Sellers

ILSR

March 30, 2022

When we surveyed over 900 small, independent businesses across the U.S., 94 reported being third-party sellers on Amazon’s Marketplace. This is a snapshot of their responses.READ MORE

Listen: How Epic Games' Acquisition of Bandcamp will Impact Independent Artists

Luke Gannon

March 10, 2022

Ron Knox was featured on The Grapevine, an Australian talk radio show, where he discussed Epic Games recent acquisition of Bandcamp and its effect on independent artists. READ MORE

Building Local Power: Our Best Podcast Episodes on Antimonopoly

Ron Knox

January 25, 2022

We have generated a list of Building Local Power's “greatest hits” from our recent archives. These episodes capture crucial perspectives in our multi-pronged antitrust, small business, and racial justice movement.READ MORE

Report: Amazon's Toll Road

Stacy Mitchell

December 1, 2021

Amazon is exploiting its position as a gatekeeper to impose steep and growing fees on the small businesses that must rely on its site to reach the online market, our new report finds. Even as these exorbitant fees bankrupt sellers, they are generating huge profits for Amazon, a fact that the tech giant conceals in its financial reports. These profits are not only the spoils of Amazon's monopoly power. They are the essential fuel that feeds its market-domination strategies.READ MORE

In The American Prospect: Why Congress Must End America’s Merger Free-for-All

Luke Gannon

October 28, 2021

Senior Research Ron Knox writes in The American Prospect about how decades of unchecked mergers has killed jobs, suppressed wages, and smothered independent businesses. With Lina Khan and DOJ nominee Jonathon Kanter, there is newfound hope to overhaul current merger laws. But Congress must act to end America’s merger free-for-all.READ MORE

Biden’s Executive Order Takes Aim at Monopoly Power on Behalf of Small Businesses, Farmers, and Workers

Ron Knox

July 26, 2021

President Biden signed a sweeping Executive Order aimed at undoing concentrated corporate control and ending decades of consolidation across the economy. The order’s provisions reflect many of ILSR's priorities.READ MORE

In The Washington Post: How Washington Got Back Into Trustbusting

Susan Holmberg

June 25, 2021

After decades of a misguided approach to antitrust policy, Washington has a new antimonopoly fervor, writes Senior Researcher Ron Knox.READ MORE

Fact Sheet: Why the "Ending Platform Monopolies Act" is Essential Reform

Stacy Mitchell

June 21, 2021

Our latest fact sheet shows that lawmakers cannot achieve their aim of restoring competition to our online markets without passing the structural separation bill. READ MORE

In The New York Times: How a Labor & Small Business Alliance Could Rebuild the Middle Class

Susan Holmberg

June 18, 2021

Labor and small business were once natural allies in a New Deal coalition that backed muscular policies to limit corporate power and build a thriving middle class. A growing antimonopoly movement is rekindling this alliance, writes Stacy Mitchell in The New York Times.READ MORE

Sen. Klobuchar Calls for Breakups in Town Hall Co-Hosted by Small Business Rising

Hannah Henderson-Charnow

June 17, 2021

"Unless you force some divestiture of assets, [monopolies are] going to just keep going the way they are... Yes, breakup[s have] to be on the table when it comes to these companies," Senator Klobuchar at a town hall event co-hosted by Small Business Rising.READ MORE

New York Bill Moving Through Senate Takes on Monopoly Power

Ron Knox

May 20, 2021

A groundbreaking new bill moving through the New York State Senate this week will, if enacted, greatly enhance the ability of the state and private plaintiffs to take on monopoly power and level the playing field for independent businesses in New York.READ MORE

In-Depth Articles & Reports

Congressional Testimony: How Concentrated Corporate Power Undermines Shared Prosperity

Katy Milani

July 14, 2021

ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell testified before the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday, July 14th. She spoke about how the U.S. has abandoned its antimonopoly policies, which has undermined independent businesses and the vital role they play in our economy and democracy.READ MORE

Senate Testimony: Concentration is at the Root of Rural Distress

Katy Milani

April 27, 2021

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs invited Co-Director Stacy Mitchell to testify at its April 20th hearing on the state of the rural economy. Stacy spoke on why rural America is in crisis and attributed the widening gap between struggling rural towns and coastal supercities to the concentration of corporate and financial power.READ MORE

In Wired: Big Music Needs to Be Broken Up to Save the Industry

Susan Holmberg

March 16, 2021

Ron Knox explains how consolidation in the music industry, like the pandemic, has been disastrous for artists. The monopolization of three chokepoints in the distribution of music — record labels, streaming, and live venues — is making it impossible for the broad “middle class” of artists to reach listeners.READ MORE

In ProMarket: How the FTC Protected the Market Power of Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Stacy Mitchell

February 19, 2021

The FTC has long protected the power of a few dominant drug middlemen, like CVS, to crush local pharmacies and fleece Medicaid programs. In this ProMarket piece, Stacy Mitchell and Zach Freed look at how the FTC not only failed to act — but worked to stop states from doing so.READ MORE

In Civil Eats: The Peanut Industry Has a Monopoly Problem

Ron Knox

January 29, 2021

Monopoly power in the peanut industry has pushed thousands of small farmers to the brink of bankruptcy. It has also made peanuts more expensive to taxpayers than any other crop in the country.READ MORE

Our Guide Gives State and Local Leaders Tools to Fight Corporate Monopolies

Jess Del Fiacco

July 15, 2020

As state and local leaders grapple with how to create a true recovery — one that lifts wages, fosters small businesses, and rebalances power — combating outsized corporate power is a key strategy. Check out ILSR's guide to antimonopoly policies for states and cities.READ MORE

In Slate: Break Up Budweiser

Susan Holmberg

July 10, 2020

In Slate, Ron Knox explains that the beer industry is not the craft brewery utopia we like to imagine. Misguided policies have allowed monopolies to dominate the market, creating a bottleneck that undermines small breweries.READ MORE

Biting Back: Delivery Apps are Gobbling Up Restaurant Revenues, and Cities Have Had Enough

Kennedy Smith

May 29, 2020

Wall Street-funded delivery services are taking a huge bite out of restaurants' meager revenues. Restaurant owners are desperate and furious — and cities are pushing back.READ MORE

ILSR Submits Recommendations for Antitrust Reform to Congressional Committee

Zach Freed

May 11, 2020

Stacy Mitchell provides the House Judiciary Committee with recommendations for future antitrust legislation.READ MORE

In the American Prospect: Monopolies in Meat

Ron Knox

May 4, 2020

ILSR Senior Researcher Ron Knox explains how a regulatory system that is supposed to protect the food supply has instead led to giant slaughterhouses rampant with Covid-19. READ MORE

Report: Walmart’s Monopolization of Local Grocery Markets

Stacy Mitchell

June 26, 2019

In 43 metropolitan areas and 160 smaller markets, Walmart controls 50 percent or more of the local grocery market. No other corporation in history has ever amassed this degree of control over the U.S. food system. Our findings provide a stark illustration of the failings of contemporary antitrust policy.READ MORE

The FTC is Approving a Merger that Will Help Staples and Amazon Cripple Independent Businesses

Stacy Mitchell

February 26, 2019

The FTC recently gave Staples the green light to buy one of the two wholesalers that sell to independent office supply dealers. The decision hardly made a blip in the news cycle. But it sheds enormous insight into the origins of the big-get-bigger U.S. economy.READ MORE

6 Ways to Rein In Today’s Monopolies

Stacy Mitchell

February 16, 2018

Monopolies are strangling competition and cutting off opportunity. In this feature for The Nation, we show how to stop them.READ MORE

The Rise and Fall of the Word 'Monopoly' in American Life

Stacy Mitchell

June 20, 2017

In this piece for The Atlantic, ILSR's Stacy Mitchell looks at the history of the anti-monopoly movement in the U.S. — and how today, as economic concentration soars, monopoly could again be just the word we need.READ MORE

Report: Monopoly Power and the Decline of Small Business

Stacy Mitchell

August 10, 2016

Small businesses have been in steep decline. In this report, we argue that anticompetitive behavior by large, dominant corporations is largely to blame and present three reasons to bring a commitment to fair markets for small businesses back into antitrust policy. The report won an award for antitrust scholarship in 2017.READ MORE

Audio & Video

Corporations Rake in Subsidies at Communities' Expense — Episode 148 of Building Local Power

Jess Del Fiacco

April 7, 2022

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Stacy Mitchell and Arlene Martínez who discuss the use of nondisclosure agreements, the acceleration of mega-deals during the pandemic, and what true economic development looks like. READ MORE

Listen: How Corporate Mergers Undermine Labor Rights

Luke Gannon

March 3, 2022

Ron Knox was featured on The Heartland Labor Forum on KKFI, where he discussed his recent reporting detailing how corporate mergers helped create monopolies that dominate our economies and drive down workers’ wages. READ MORE

On Pitchfork Economics: How Walmart Gutted Communities

Luke Gannon

October 28, 2021

Stacy Mitchell joins Pitchfork Economics to explain how policies drove the rise of Walmart and Amazon, and the urgency of the antitrust movement.READ MORE

Listen: Big Music Should Be On The Antitrust Agenda

Luke Gannon

October 5, 2021

Ron Knox joined WVON’s The Morning Show to jam about monopoly power in the music industry, which is preventing independent streaming platforms from competing and hurting artists.READ MORE

Listen: Hardware Group Says Big Tech Bills are an Urgent Opportunity for Small Businesses

Susan Holmberg

August 5, 2021

ILSR's Stacy Mitchell joined Dan Tratensek of the North American Hardware and Paint Association to talk about the momentum in Washington, and at the local level, to level the playing field for small business.READ MORE

Listen to Ron Knox on Capitol Forum's Podcast

Susan Holmberg

June 20, 2021

Senior Research Ron Knox was the featured guest on Capitol Forum's podcast, Second Request. They chatted about music industry monopolies and how to restore the music industry's middle class.READ MORE

Senate Briefing Features Communities Impacted by Monopoly Power

Katy Milani

May 12, 2021

Stacy Mitchell participated in a Senate briefing with other leading experts, organizers, and impacted communities to expose the ways monopoly power poses a threat to our democracy, the health of our economy, and our country’s already severe racial disparities.READ MORE

Our Antimonopoly Town Hall Draws Nearly 400 Small Businesses

Katy Milani

February 25, 2021

Nearly 400 people tuned into our lively town hall on February 22nd, which detailed how Amazon’s growing dominance hurts independent businesses and what Congress must do to curb monopoly power. The event featured Congressman David Cicilline, along with leading antitrust experts and small business advocates.READ MORE

How Monopolies Gained More Ground During the Pandemic

Susan Holmberg

November 30, 2020

Stacy Mitchell talks to the Strong Towns podcast about how corporate power is concentrating during the pandemic, and what it would look like if Congress broke up Big Tech.READ MORE

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