Article

2 Aug 2023

In Project Syndicate: Is America’s Merger Fever Breaking?

by Stacy Mitchell and Ron Knox | Date: 2 Aug 2023 | posted in: Retail | 0

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

19 Jul 2023

13 States Flunk This Standard Test — Episode 188 of Local Energy Rules

by Maria McCoy | Date: 19 Jul 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0

Mari Hernandez explains why we need transparent and efficient interconnection standards, how the regulatory landscape can adapt to new technologies, and where IREC’s Freeing the Grid initiative can help.… Read More

12 Jul 2023

In Civil Eats: Pacific Seafood Controls the Dungeness Crab Market, but Small Crabbers Are Fighting Back

by Ron Knox | Date: 12 Jul 2023 | posted in: Retail | 0

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

10 Jul 2023

In The Sling: When Confronting Amazon’s Anticompetitive Conduct, the FTC Should Invoke Its Section 5 Authority

by Ron Knox and Luke Gannon | Date: 10 Jul 2023 | posted in: Retail | 0

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

5 Jul 2023

Utilities Gamble With Household Money — Episode 187 of Local Energy Rules

by Maria McCoy | Date: 5 Jul 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0

Tony Bartelme discusses how utilities have wagered and lost billions of customer dollars, why customers are on the hook when utilities take financial risks, and how unhappy customers can counter utility power grabs.… Read More

29 Jun 2023

Amazon’s Tight Grip on Cloud Computing Poses Multiple Threats. ILSR Urges FTC Action.

by Ron Knox and Stacy Mitchell | Date: 29 Jun 2023 | posted in: Retail | 0

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

28 Jun 2023

New Power Generation Quarterly: 2023 Q1

by Maria McCoy | Date: 28 Jun 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0

Eight gigawatts of new power generation capacity came online in the first quarter of 2023. For the third quarter in a row, over half of new generation was solar power (4.5 GW) with the rest from fossil gas (2 GW) and wind (1.5 GW).… Read More

27 Jun 2023

A Tool to Track Federal Funding for Affordable Broadband

by Ry Marcattilio-McCracken | Date: 27 Jun 2023 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

In May, we published a story about the fate of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), based on a prediction model we built that was intended to visualize how long we might expect the $14.2 billion fund to last before needing new Congressional appro…… Read More

27 Jun 2023

New Video: Coalition of Community Broadband Advocates Prevail in Louisiana

by Sean Gonsalves | Date: 27 Jun 2023 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

In July of 2022, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and several state lawmakers visited Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana to announce the community had secured a $4 million grant to build a fiber-to-the-home network in one of the most poorly connected parts of the state.… Read More