In the News: Stacy Mitchell
August 28, 2017
Media Outlet: Bloomberg BNA
Stacy Mitchell’s analysis of Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods was featured in Alexei Alexis’ Bloomberg BNA article on the uproar over the Federal Trade Commission’s brief review of the deal:
Some public interest groups and congressional Democrats wanted the FTC to consider Amazon’s growing control over online commerce as part of the agency’s review.
“The FTC apparently choose to ignore Amazon’s online dominance and instead focus narrowly on groceries,” Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which advocates for communities and independent businesses, told Bloomberg BNA.
“The other dismaying aspect of this is that the FTC did not offer any explanation,” she added. “It did not explain how it chose to view this deal, what it investigated, or its conclusions. There is zero public transparency.”
The FTC rarely comments on why it closes antitrust investigations, according to FTC spokeswoman Betsy Lordan. When it does so, the comment usually takes the form of a public closing letter.
