Amazon

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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

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

Recent

Statement on House Judiciary's Referral of Amazon to the DOJ for Potential Criminal Obstruction of Congress

Luke Gannon

March 9, 2022

We issued a statement on the House Judiciary's Referral of Amazon to the DOJ for Potential Criminal Obstruction of Congress. "Amazon’s attempt to obstruct Congress only further underscores the need for legislation to rein in Big Tech's outsized power."READ MORE

How Reining in Big Tech will Save Small Businesses

Katy Milani

January 6, 2022

Senior Policy Advocate Katy Milani writes for Phoenix's Eculeus newspaper group on how local businesses create a strong community, offer quality career opportunities, and cultivate economic stability. READ MORE

On Capitol Forum: Amazon Charges Steep Fees at the Expense of Small Businesses

Luke Gannon

January 5, 2022

Stacy Mitchell joined Teddy Downey on the Capitol Forum's podcast to discuss ILSR’s new Amazon’s Toll Road report, which finds that Amazon is exploiting its position as a gatekeeper to impose steep and growing fees on third-party sellers. Stacy explains that breaking up Amazon is a key solution to saving small businesses.READ MORE

Is Amazon Good for Small Business?

Luke Gannon

November 30, 2021

Stacy Mitchell and business journalist Rana Foroohar teamed up for an Intelligence Squared debate to argue how Amazon is bad for small business.READ MORE

Fact Sheet: How Amazon Exploits and Undermines Small Businesses, and Why Breaking It Up Would Revive American Entrepreneurship

Stacy Mitchell

June 16, 2021

In splashy campaigns and lobbying at the Capitol, Amazon claims that it has “a mutually beneficial relationship” with the small businesses that depend on its platform. This fact sheet tells the real story, and explains what Congress needs to do.READ MORE

Listen to Stacy Mitchell on WBUR's The Prime Effect

Susan Holmberg

June 10, 2021

Stacy Mitchell was the featured guest on WBUR’s On Point for their series on Amazon. She talked about Amazon's power, the inner workings of Amazon’s online marketplace, and how the tech giant preys on third-party sellers.READ MORE

D.C. Lawsuit Aims At Amazon’s Monopoly Conduct

Ron Knox

June 1, 2021

An antitrust lawsuit filed this month by Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine is a milestone in the fight against the monopoly power of online retail juggernaut Amazon. It is the first action by a government enforcer in the U.S. aimed at ending the company’s persistent abuse of consumers and the small businesses forced to sell on its platform.READ MORE

The Key to Stopping Amazon? Think Like a Citizen

Susan Holmberg

May 7, 2021

Stacy Mitchell joined Baratunde Thurston on his “How to Citizen with Baratunde” podcast to talk about how she became an antimonopolist, as well as America’s longer history fighting monopoly power: “From the beginning, there was this understanding that you had to deal with private power if you wanted to have a democracy.”READ MORE

Reports & Articles

In The New York Times: Stacy Mitchell Makes the Case to Break Up Jeff Bezos's Empire

Stacy Mitchell

October 8, 2020

Through its marketplace, cloud division and voice interface, Amazon functions as essential infrastructure for an astonishing array of companies and industries. This gives it an extraordinary view into the activities of other businesses and an unparalleled ability to manipulate markets to its own advantage.READ MORE

In The Atlantic: Amazon Is a Private Government. Congress Needs to Step Up.

Stacy Mitchell

August 11, 2020

In The Atlantic, Stacy Mitchell explains why Congress must reign in the monopoly power of these companies in order to restore balance to both our economy and our democracy.READ MORE

Report: Amazon's Monopoly Tollbooth

Stacy Mitchell

July 28, 2020

In this report, we find that Amazon is exploiting its gatekeeper power to impose ever-larger fees on third-party sellers.READ MORE

In The Nation: How Amazon Used the Pandemic to Amass More Monopoly Power

Ron Knox

June 26, 2020

Amazon has a long history of using its monopoly power to squeeze its workers and the small businesses that depend on its platform. Now, under the strains of Covid-19, Amazon has begun to turn its quest for dominance against its own customers.READ MORE

ILSR's Testimony on Amazon's Dominance Before the House Judiciary Committee

Stacy Mitchell

July 15, 2019

ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell testified on Amazon's market power before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its antitrust investigation into dominant digital platforms.READ MORE

Interview: In The Sun, Stacy Mitchell Discusses Amazon and the Future of Local Economies

Stacy Mitchell

October 25, 2018

This month, The Sun magazine features ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell in an extended Q&A about the consequences of Amazon’s tightening grip and what it will take to revive America’s left-behind cities and towns.READ MORE

Report: Amazon’s Next Frontier: Your City’s Purchasing

Stacy Mitchell

July 10, 2018

A national contract opens the way for Amazon to take over billions of dollars in local government spending. In this report, we examine the contract and find serious concerns — including that it leaves local governments at risk of being ripped off, and sets Amazon up to expand its monopoly power.READ MORE

In The Nation: Amazon Doesn’t Just Want to Dominate the Market—It Wants to Become the Market

Stacy Mitchell

February 15, 2018

Stacy's Mitchell's cover feature for The Nation looks at how Amazon is a radically new kind of monopoly with ambitions that dwarf those of earlier empires, and what we should do about it.READ MORE

Report: Amazon’s Monopoly

Stacy Mitchell

November 29, 2016

Amazon is destroying competition and market diversity, leaving us with fewer choices, less innovation, and diminished opportunities.READ MORE

Report: Amazon’s Stranglehold: How the Company's Tightening Grip on the Economy Is Stifling Competition, Eroding Jobs, and Threatening Communities

Stacy Mitchell

November 29, 2016

Amazon has extended its tentacles across our economy. In this report, we pull back the curtain on the company, and find that it's at the center of increasing inequality and diminishing opportunity, and that it's concentrating power in ways that endanger competition, community life, and democracy. We also examine how public policy should address Amazon's high costs.READ MORE

Featured Media Coverage

Stacy Mitchell is Profiled in the New York Times

Jess Del Fiacco

April 20, 2020

ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell was profiled in the New York Times for her analysis of Amazon's monopoly and work to build a broad coalition to advocate for policies to check its outsized power.READ MORE

Watch Frontline Documentary on Amazon's Reign Over Us — Featuring ILSR's Research & Interviews with Stacy Mitchell

Susan Holmberg

February 4, 2020

FRONTLINE has drawn on ILSR’s research and interviews with co-director Stacy Mitchell to create a powerful documentary on the reign of Amazon.READ MORE

Audio & Video

Is Amazon Picking Winners and Losers Among America's Cities? — Episode 121 of Building Local Power

Jess Del Fiacco

March 4, 2021

Host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell are joined by award-winning journalist Alec MacGillis to discuss his new book, Fulfillment. Their conversation focuses on how the shift toward online shopping — led by Amazon — has reshaped America.READ MORE

On the "Who Is?" Podcast: Stacy Mitchell Explains How Jeff Bezos has Leveraged Government Favors to Amass Alarming Power

Stacy Mitchell

September 3, 2020

On the "Who Is?" podcast, ILSR's Stacy Mitchell explains how Jeff Bezos built Amazon into the empire it is today by exploiting fractures in economic policy and then leveraging the company's political influence to dominate our economy.READ MORE

Canadian National Radio: Why It's Crucial to Wrest Power From Corporations like Amazon

Susan Holmberg

June 1, 2020

Stacy Mitchell talks to Canadian national radio about how to understand Amazon’s structural power and its consequences, and about the growing momentum in Congress to do something.READ MORE

On Vergecast: Stacy Mitchell Explains How Amazon's Dominance is More Visible During a Pandemic

Zach Freed

May 1, 2020

Nilay Patel, host of the Vergecast, interviewed Co-Director Stacy Mitchell on the pandemic's disruptions to our supply chains, the importance of competition, and the growing movement to regulate Amazon.READ MORE

Australian National Radio Talks With Stacy Mitchell about America's Anti-Monopoly History and Big Tech

Stacy Mitchell

June 25, 2019

ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell was featured on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio news program Rear Vision for an episode on monopoly power in America.READ MORE

How Amazon Gets What it Wants: Stacy Mitchell on Chris Hayes' Podcast

Charlie Thaxton

January 23, 2019

ILSR co-director Stacy Mitchell appeared on MSNBC host Chris Hayes' podcast, "Why Is This Happening?" The two discuss how Amazon came to dominate e-commerce, its now all-encompassing presence in consumer goods, retail, and cloud computing, and its much bigger ambitions beyond.READ MORE

In Videos for Bernie Sanders, ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell Explains Amazon’s Monopoly Power

Zach Freed

October 5, 2018

The two videos have drawn more than 1.8 million views across several platforms.READ MORE

In ProMarket: Big Tech is Officially Too Big to Manage

Shaoul Sussman

August 5, 2020

Last week, the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee held Big Tech's feet to the fire. They grilled the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google about the power that these four companies have over the U.S. economy and our society. In light of this epic hearing, ILSR Legal Fellow writes in ProMarket that we are seeing a "monumental shift in the public debate surrounding Big Tech."READ MORE

In Wired: Can it. Amazon is Not Your Typical Grocery Store

Susan Holmberg

May 5, 2020

ILSR Legal Fellow Shaoul Sussman and co-author Hal Singer discredit the idea that all businesses behave like Amazon.READ MORE

In ProMarket: Amazon is Poised to Emerge from the Covid-19 Crisis Stronger Than Ever

Shaoul Sussman

April 1, 2020

Amazon has reacted to the coronavirus outbreak with restrictions designed to cement its market power at the expense of merchants and consumers.READ MORE

In American Prospect: Amazon Uses Lending to Control Small Business

Shaoul Sussman

February 26, 2020

In the American Prospect, ILSR Legal Fellow Shaoul Sussman explains that it is almost impossible for small businesses selling on Amazon’s platform to borrow from private banks, forcing entrepreneurs to borrow from Amazon itself.READ MORE

ILSR Exposes Amazon's Rigged Shopping Algorithm in ProMarket Piece

Stacy Mitchell

November 8, 2019

In a new piece for the University of Chicago Stigler Center's blog, ProMarket, ILSR's co-director Stacy Mitchell, and legal fellow Shaoul Sussman, describe how Amazon rigs its shopping algorithm to produce results that favor its own interests, harming shoppers and the many businesses that rely on its platform to get to market.READ MORE

Factsheets & Infographics

The People vs. Amazon: Our Summary of Congress's Findings

Ron Knox

December 14, 2020

We summarized Congress's Big Tech monopoly report, particularly its findings on Amazon's monopoly power and its recommendations for how Congress can liberate the economy from Amazon’s stranglehold.READ MORE

Local Governments Are Increasingly Buying from Amazon. Here’s Why They Need to Stop.

Olivia LaVecchia

April 4, 2017

Local governments are increasingly turning to Amazon for their buying needs. When they do, though, citizens lose. Here's why you should be concerned about this spreading trend — and 5 things you can do.READ MORE

When It Comes to Working People, Amazon Isn't Innovative at All

Olivia LaVecchia

February 7, 2017

When shoppers interact with Amazon, they see an innovator. But behind the scenes, Amazon relies on a labor model that looks a lot more like the past than the future. This fact sheet that breaks down how this powerful corporation is undermining working people — and what we need to do.READ MORE

5 Things Local Officials Need to Know Before Welcoming an Amazon Warehouse

Stacy Mitchell

October 22, 2015

Amazon fulfillment centers impose so many hidden costs on local economies that cities ought to reconsider welcoming them at all, much less greasing the way with public funds.READ MORE

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