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In a popular New York Times Tik Tok, Stacy Mitchell explained why we need to look past the headlines about inflation to understand why our grocery bills are still rising.… Read More
The Biden Administration’s proposed merger guidelines represent a significant shift in policy from the current guidelines. If implemented, the guidelines would help stop harmful mergers that concentrate power in too few hands. Our new explainer breaks down the basics of the new merger guidelines and explains how they could reshape merger enforcement, the economy, and our democracy.… Read More
The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division are proposing new Merger Guidelines and they want you to share your stories. You are the experts on how monopolies — like Amazon, CVS, Dollar General, Comcast, and beyond — have impacted your communities and these stories are key to ensuring the final guidelines are strong. See the link in this post on how to share your stories!… Read More
Communities are adopting innovative strategies to sustain their grocery stores or create new ones amidst the challenges posed by grocery sector consolidation. Some local governments are even creating a public option by operating grocery stores themselves. Here’s how these places are ensuring access to fresh, healthy food. … Read More
A major shift is afoot in the federal government’s stance on big business. The US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission’s draft merger guidelines represent a major break with the neoliberal assumptions that have underpinned US antitrust enforcement for the last 40 years. In the Project Syndicate, Stacy Mitchell and Ron Know write how the draft guidelines, if adopted, would stop runaway corporate consolidation, rebuild local economies, and help preserve US democracy.… Read More
“This draft heralds a long overdue end to the dangerous and destructive approach of the last four decades,” Stacy Mitchell, ILSR Co-Executive Director, says in the statement.… Read More
Small fishermen in the Pacific Northwest are taking a stand against Pacific Seafood, the dominant West Coast crab processor, alleging that the corporation is exploiting its power to manipulate industry regulations in its favor and drive down the prices the fishermen receive for their catch. Writing in Civil Eats, Ron Knox provides our latest dispatch on how local economies are suffering the effects of unchecked monopoly power.… Read More
As the Federal Trade Commission sets its sights on challenging Amazon’s dominance in online retail, Ron Knox argues in The Sling that the agency must leverage its most potent weapon against anticompetitive behavior: Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.… Read More
In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, ILSR warned that control over cloud computing, the backbone of the modern economy, is dangerously concentrated. Amazon Web Services (AWS), which controls more than 40 percent of global cloud infrastructure, has exploited its position to lock-in customers, shut out rivals, and reap unfair advantages in its other non-cloud business lines. ILSR urges the FTC to use its authorities to open the market to needed competition.… Read More
