Photo: A U.S. flag with corporate logos.
4 Aug 2016

After Three Decades of Neglect, Antitrust Is Back on the Democratic Platform

by | Date: 4 Aug 2016 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

For the first time in 28 years, the Democratic Party platform calls for vigorous, stepped-up enforcement of our anti-monopoly laws. This remarkable shift in policy was made possible in part by the Bernie Sanders movement, but it’s also the product of years of advocacy by scholars and activists who believe that high levels of concentration in banking, retail, agribusiness and other sectors are ravaging our economy and democracy.… Read More

Photo: Empty Walmart.
17 Feb 2016

With 269 Stores Closing, Is this the Beginning of the End for Walmart?

by | Date: 17 Feb 2016 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

All great retail empires eventually fall. A&P did. So did Montgomery Ward. But Walmart’s recent announcement that it would close 269 stores may not be an initial stumble on a path toward demise so much as a move to abandon communities that it has decided simply aren’t worth the trouble. We look at both the bad and the good fallout from Walmart’s pullback, and how its closures are best explained as a side effect of its main strategy for dominating the economy: overbuilding regions to the point of not just destroying competition but cannibalizing its own sales, while communities bear the consequences.… Read More
8 Jan 2016

Key Studies: Why Independent Matters

by | Date: 8 Jan 2016 | posted in: Retail | 50 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A growing body of research is giving us new ways to quantify the harms of bigness and the benefits of local ownership. In this post, we round-up the important studies and provide the evidence that policymakers can use to craft better laws, business owners can use to rally support, and citizens can use to organize their communities.… Read More
22 Oct 2015

New Analysis: Amazon Warehouses Impose Hidden Costs on Communities

by | Date: 22 Oct 2015 | posted in: Press Release, Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Amazon is on a building spree, and many local officials are eager to bring one of its giant fulfillment centers to their own backyard.  But a new analysis from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) indicates that communities are losing more than they gain in these projects. Contact: Stacy Mitchell, 207-232-3681 Co-Director, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) … Read More

Map: Number of banks by state.
1 Sep 2015

How One State Escaped Wall Street’s Rule and Created a Banking System That’s 83% Locally Owned

by | Date: 1 Sep 2015 | posted in: Banking | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

North Dakota has a different kind of banking sector than the rest of the country does, with six times as many locally owned financial institutions per person as the rest of the U.S., and local institutions controlling 83 percent of the market. What is North Dakota doing differently? A lot of the answer is the Bank of North Dakota.… Read More
27 Jul 2015

Coalition of Authors Calls for an Investigation into Amazon’s Monopoly

by | Date: 27 Jul 2015 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Amazon’s predatory monopoly is still unchecked, but a coalition of authors is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate it. In a 24-page letter, the coalition contends that Amazon is abusing its market power in ways that undermine competition and compromise liberty, free speech, and democracy.
… Read More

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