Over fifty congressional staffers tuned into a virtual briefing featuring antitrust experts, small business owners, and lawmakers to hear about a leading challenge facing independent retailers — unfair corporate pricing practices that are driving small businesses out of local communities and raising prices for consumers. Organized by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), National Grocers Association (NGA), and P Street, the briefing spotlighted what Congress can do to create a level playing field for independent retailers, curb the rise of food deserts, and support local communities. Here are some highlights of the event:
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Without robust enforcement of antitrust laws, communities across America will continue to lose the independent businesses that provide jobs, support local economies, and serve as anchors for community life. Food deserts will expand, consumers will pay higher prices, rural areas will face even greater economic challenges, and the concentration of economic power in fewer hands will accelerate.
Katy Milani“Without robust enforcement of antitrust laws, communities across America will continue to lose the independent businesses that provide jobs, support local economies, and serve as anchors for community life.”
For more information about price discrimination and the Robinson-Patman Act, see the following resources:
99% Invisible, with Stacy Mitchell's help, devotes an episode to the relationship between food deserts and the federal government's abandonment of Robison-Patman Act enforcement.
The FTC's lawsuit against Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, utilizing the Robinson-Patman Act, could be an opportunity to restore fairness to the American economy
"Consumers will feel the benefits through greater choice, lower prices, and vibrant neighborhood business districts," says Stacy Mitchell
The FTC has chosen to "abandon communities that depend on fair competition to maintain access to essential goods and services," says Stacy Mitchell