Report: Fewer Small Businesses are Receiving Federal Relief Loans in States Dominated by Big Banks

Stacy Mitchell

April 29, 2020

A significantly larger number of federal relief loans are reaching small businesses in states where small, local banks comprise a greater share of the market, compared to states where big banks are more dominant, an ILSR analysis has found.  READ MORE

Our Guide Gives State and Local Leaders Tools to Fight Corporate Monopolies

Jess Del Fiacco

July 15, 2020

As state and local leaders grapple with how to create a true recovery — one that lifts wages, fosters small businesses, and rebalances power — combating outsized corporate power is a key strategy. Check out ILSR's guide to antimonopoly policies for states and cities.  READ MORE

Statement from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance on Today’s Reintroduction of the Bank Merger Review Modernization Act

Published by: Jess Del Fiacco

September 30th, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Virgil McDill, vmcdill@ilsr.org, 202.294.9187   Statement from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance on Today’s Reintroduction of the Bank Merger Review Modernization Act   WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 30, 2021) - The following statement was issued by Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute f[...]

Distribution of Credit Card Loans by Banks Size, 1994-2018

Published by: ILSR

May 15th, 2019

Credit card lending has seen major growth in the past decades. With that growth has come almost unparalleled concentration. Today, about half of all credit cards are issued by giant banks, who also dominate the amount of total credit extended. That[...]

Number of New Banks Created by Year, 1993 to 2018

Published by: ILSR

May 14th, 2019

The number of community banks has declined sharply in the last decade. A significant share of the decline is owed to the fact that virtually no new banks have been created since 2009. Between 2004 and 2008, before the financial[...]

Charlie Thaxton

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

Stacy Mitchell

May 5, 2015

The precipitous decline in the number of community banks in recent years is a national crisis, and there's a fierce debate underway right now about what's to blame.  READ MORE

Stacy Mitchell

April 16, 2014

Even as their big competitors are awash in capital, many locally owned businesses are struggling to secure the financing they need to grow. This analysis finds that, since 2000, bank lending to large businesses is up 36 percent, while  READ MORE

Stacy Mitchell

September 1, 2015

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  READ MORE

ILSR

April 1, 2012

In this cover story for Sojourners Magazine, Stacy Mitchell writes that there is remarkably little evidence to support the idea that bigger banks are superior. They have come to dominate, not because they are more efficient or offer better services,  READ MORE