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.
Katy writes that the lack of antitrust enforcement over the last decade has amassed “unprecedented economic and political power, dwarfing the ability of independent businesses to compete fairly and leading to waves of closures.” Between 2007 and 2017 the number of small retailers fell by 65,000, not because they couldn’t operate, but because they were unfairly muscled out of the economy.
This is a precarious time for small business owners in every part of the country, but progress is being made. Katy concludes, “Federal lawmakers are considering new Big Tech anti-monopoly legislation aimed at breaking the stronghold Amazon and other tech monopolies now have, including a bill to break Amazon apart. For small businesses to thrive, even survive, this legislation is vital, and we need Congress to act.”
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