Monopoly

July 15, 2019

On Tuesday, July 16, Stacy Mitchell will testify on Amazon's market power before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing on the monopoly power of big tech platforms.READ MORE

Independent Musicians and the Anti-Monopoly Movement (Episode 76)

Hibba Meraay

July 11, 2019

Host Zach Freed is joined by Kevin Erickson, Director of the Future of Music Coalition, to talk about the music industry's role in the growing anti-monopoly movement.READ MORE

New Report: Walmart’s Monopolization of Local Grocery Markets

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

Stacy Mitchell in The Atlantic: Elizabeth Warren Has a Theory About Corporate Power

May 16, 2019

In The Atlantic, Stacy Mitchell focuses on the Democrats' forgotten role as small business champions, and on Elizabeth Warren's reclaiming of the monopoly trustbusting tradition.READ MORE

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

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

In-Depth

Amazon’s Monopoly

November 29, 2016

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

Monopoly Power and the Decline of Small Business

August 10, 2016

The U.S. is much less a nation of entrepreneurs than it was a generation ago. In this report, which won an award for antitrust scholarship in 2017, we suggest that the decline of small businesses is owed, at least in part, to anticompetitive behavior by large, dominant corporations. The report presents three reasons to bring a commitment to fair markets for small businesses back into antitrust policy, and concludes by outlining specific steps to do just that.READ MORE

FTC Watch

ILSR Joins Petition to Ban Non-Compete Agreements, Highlights Harm to Local Businesses and Entrepreneurship

March 20, 2019

ILSR joined a petition calling on the FTC to ban non-compete agreements. We offer a rundown of how they undermine entrepreneurship and small businesses.READ MORE

ILSR Submits Comments to the FTC on Staples / Essendant Merger

February 26, 2019

ILSR's comments explain why this merger will harm competition, undermine independent office supply businesses, and accelerate Amazon’s dominance of this industry, and why the FTC needs to take a much tougher stance on deals like this.READ MORE

In FTC Hearings, a Few Bright Spots Amid a Pro-Monopoly Status Quo

November 2, 2018

The FTC is examining the state of antitrust policy. Many of those invited to testify have reinforced the status quo, but moments of dissent show the consensus is facing an emerging challenge.READ MORE

ILSR Submits Comments as Federal Trade Commission Embarks on a Rare Review of Its Antitrust Policy

August 30, 2018

In a series of hearings this fall, the Federal Trade Commission will examine whether it should be doing more to check concentrated economic power. ILSR has submitted comments to the agency that highlight the impact of concentration on independent businesses and outline the dangers of Amazon's platform power.READ MORE

Featured Articles

Statement on House Antitrust Investigation into Big Tech

Hibba Meraay

June 4, 2019

In response to the House Judiciary Committee’s announcement that it will begin a study of the impact of dominant technology platforms, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance released the following statement.READ MORE

Op-Ed in Fortune: The Hidden Price of Cashless Retail

April 3, 2019

In Fortune, we detail the growing cashless retail trend, steps cities and states are taking to regulate it, and the ultimate effect monopoly credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard have on small businesses and the economy at large.READ MORE

Statement on Sen. Warren's proposal to Break Up Big Tech

March 8, 2019

ILSR applauds Senator Warren’s plan to restore the balance of power in our democracy and revive competition by breaking up big tech companies.READ MORE

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

October 5, 2018

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

In Book Review for Washington Monthly, Stacy Mitchell on "The Truth About Big Business"

July 24, 2018

In the July-August issue of "Washington Monthly" magazine, ILSR's Stacy Mitchell rebuts a new book's claims that the monopolization of the U.S. economy is a good thing. As she does so, Stacy also mounts a vigorous counter-argument, explaining how economic policy has tilted the playing field in favor of bigness, but how small businesses perform critical functions that big businesses can't.READ MORE

With Antitrust Ruling, Supreme Court Underscores Need for New Anti-Monopoly Movement

June 29, 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in the case Ohio v. American Express makes even more clear the importance of the growing movement of citizens and elected officials to restore U.S. antitrust laws to their original strength and purpose, and to tackle the power of Big Tech head-on through new policies.READ MORE

6 Ways to Rein In Today’s Monopolies

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

Amazon Doesn’t Just Want to Dominate the Market—It Wants to Become the Market

February 15, 2018

This 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

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

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

To Beat Retail Monopolies, We Need to Shed Our Consumer Identity

December 7, 2006

A growing number of communities are fighting back against the rising power of large retail stores like Wal-Mart. But real change won't come until we stop thinking of ourselves as consumers and start thinking of ourselves as engaged citizens.READ MORE

Audio & Video

ILSR's Zach Freed Appears on San Francisco's KALW to Discuss Amazon's Warehouse Conditions and Market Power

July 15, 2019

ILSR Researcher Zach Freed was featured on "Your Call," a program of KALW, a San Francisco NPR affiliate, to discuss Amazon's warehouse and labor practices.READ MORE

Will Santa Sleigh the Monopolies? (Episode 62)

Hibba Meraay

December 27, 2018

Chris Mitchell is joined by ILSR Co-Directors Stacy Mitchell and John Farrell for a year in review. They discuss developments in the movement against corporate concentration, Amazon's stranglehold on the economy, batteries as a game changer in the energy world, and more.READ MORE

On WNYC's On the Media, Stacy Mitchell Talks Antitrust's Past and Future

November 21, 2018

ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell appeared as a guest on the WNYC radio program On The Media for a segment entitled “Making America Antitrust Again.” Stacy talked with host Brooke Gladstone about our country’s history of breaking up big corporations, the rise of Amazon, and where our growing anti-monopoly movement is headed.READ MORE

Watch: Panel Discussion on What to Do About Amazon