Featured

Stacy Mitchell Keynotes the Launch of The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project

Stacy Mitchell Keynotes the Launch of The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project

Luke Gannon

August 17, 2022

The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP) aims to reform Canadian competition law. For their launch event, Stacy Mitchell, a leader in the U.S. antimonopoly movement, spoke on the importance of antimonopoly to a fair and free economy and democracy.  READ MORE


Report: How New Federal Antimerger Guidelines Can Roll Back Corporate Concentration and Build Local Power

Report: How New Federal Antimerger Guidelines Can Roll Back Corporate Concentration and Build Local Power

Stacy Mitchell

June 29, 2022

Earlier this year the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice announced plans to revise their merger guidelines, setting the stage for a new era in antitrust regulation. ILSR's new report details how new federal antimerger guidelines can restore competition and build local power.  READ MORE


Stacy Mitchell Gives Keynote Speech at the National Rural Grocery Summit: “Trustbusting Is Making a Comeback”

Stacy Mitchell Gives Keynote Speech at the National Rural Grocery Summit: "Trustbusting Is Making a Comeback"

Luke Gannon

June 22, 2022

ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell gave a barnburner keynote address at the National Rural Grocery Summit, where she detailed how monopolistic corporations are squeezing independent businesses and farmers out of the market — and the antimonopoly comeback that is fighting to resurrect our antitrust laws.  READ MORE


Recent

Statement on the One-Year Anniversary of President Biden’s Executive Order Promoting Competition

Statement on the One-Year Anniversary of President Biden’s Executive Order Promoting Competition

Reggie Rucker

July 14, 2022

A year ago this week President Biden “sharply repudiated 40 years of federal policy that favored bigness and overlooked the harm monopoly power can inflict on working people, small businesses, and communities.”  READ MORE


In the Minnesota Reformer: Can Amazon Compete?

In the Minnesota Reformer: Can Amazon Compete?

Luke Gannon

June 22, 2022

As Amazon dominates the shipping services market and makes record profits, small businesses, warehouse workers, and delivery drivers pay the price. Stacy Mitchell wrote in the Minnesota Reformer how Sen. Amy Klobuchar's bill will put a stop to this predatory  READ MORE


“Amazon’s Grip is Crushing Us”: Stories and Testimonials from Amazon Sellers

"Amazon's Grip is Crushing Us": Stories and Testimonials from Amazon Sellers

Katy Milani

June 15, 2022

Amazon portrays itself as a partner to businesses in an effort to derail Congress, business owners tell a very different story about their experience selling on Amazon’s marketplace. Here are some of their stories.  READ MORE


Germany’s National Broadcaster Features Stacy Mitchell, as Scrutiny of Amazon’s Power Grows

Germany’s National Broadcaster Features Stacy Mitchell, as Scrutiny of Amazon’s Power Grows

Luke Gannon

June 7, 2022

In May, Germany’s national public television network, ARD, broadcast a new documentary, “Is Amazon a Monopoly?” which featured an interview with Stacy Mitchell. The documentary drew a prime-time audience of more than 3 million viewers.  READ MORE


Report: Why the 21st Century Antitrust Act is Critical for New York Small Businesses

Report: Why the 21st Century Antitrust Act is Critical for New York Small Businesses

Katy Milani

May 19, 2022

In New York, rampant market power is endangering the economic dynamism that New York small businesses generate. State lawmakers have the opportunity to build a more level playing field for small businesses by passing the 21st Century Antitrust Act. Our  READ MORE


In-Depth

2022 Independent Business Survey: Top Challenges and Policy Priorities

2022 Independent Business Survey: Top Challenges and Policy Priorities

ILSR

March 30, 2022

ILSR surveyed 908 small, independent businesses across across the country. We asked about the challenges they face and the policies they believe would improve the survival and success of independent businesses.  READ MORE


Issue Brief: Handcuffed by the Courts

Issue Brief: Handcuffed by the Courts

Ron Knox

March 8, 2022

Beginning in the late 1970s, a series of Supreme Court cases upended U.S. antitrust laws — laws that were once the linchpin of a comprehensive, democratic check on corporate power. This issue brief traverses the history and argues that Congress must take action to undo these pro-monopoly decisions.  READ MORE


Report: Small Business’s Big Moment

Report: Small Business's Big Moment

Kennedy Smith

January 24, 2022

One of the biggest challenges facing America’s towns and cities is leveling the playing field for small businesses. Our new report shows how civic leaders can use the American Rescue Plan to do just that, which will provide communities and local economies with lasting benefits for decades to come.  READ MORE


Report: Amazon’s Toll Road

Report: Amazon's Toll Road

Stacy Mitchell

December 1, 2021

Amazon is exploiting its position as a gatekeeper to impose steep and growing fees on the small businesses that must rely on its site to reach the online market, our new report finds. Even as these exorbitant fees bankrupt sellers, they are generating huge profits for Amazon, a fact that the tech giant conceals in its financial reports. These profits are not only the spoils of Amazon's monopoly power. They are the essential fuel that feeds its market-domination strategies.  READ MORE


Fact Sheet: How Amazon Exploits and Undermines Small Businesses, and Why Breaking It Up Would Revive American Entrepreneurship

Fact Sheet: How Amazon Exploits and Undermines Small Businesses, and Why Breaking It Up Would Revive American Entrepreneurship

Stacy Mitchell

June 16, 2021

In splashy campaigns and lobbying at the Capitol, Amazon claims that it has “a mutually beneficial relationship” with the small businesses that depend on its platform. This fact sheet tells the real story, and explains what Congress needs to do.  READ MORE


In The Nation, the Left Should Fight for Small Business

In The Nation, the Left Should Fight for Small Business

Susan Holmberg

December 2, 2020

It's hard to believe, but Democrats used to be the party of small business. In The Nation, Stacy Mitchell and Susan R. Holmberg argue that the left should once again embrace small business. Doing so is crucial to reversing inequality & rescuing democracy. It’s also key to winning Congress.  READ MORE


Featured Audio and Video

Anti-Merger Guidelines Would Stop Corporate Concentration, Revive Local Economies — Episode 153 of Building Local Power

Anti-Merger Guidelines Would Stop Corporate Concentration, Revive Local Economies — Episode 153 of Building Local Power

Jess Del Fiacco

June 16, 2022

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by her colleagues John Farrell, Stacy Mitchell, and Ron Knox, where they discuss the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission's plan to overhaul their mergerREAD MORE


Listen: What Could Possibly Go Right? Finding Our Muscle as Citizens

Listen: What Could Possibly Go Right? Finding Our Muscle as Citizens

Luke Gannon

May 27, 2022

Vicki Robin, host of the podcast “What Could Possibly Go Right?” asks ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell, “In this moment of great turmoil what promise do you see on the horizon?” In other words, what could possibly go right? READ MORE


Listen: The Cost of Dominant Food Delivery Apps

Listen: The Cost of Dominant Food Delivery Apps

Luke Gannon

May 25, 2022

Kennedy Smith joined The Morning Show on Wisconsin Public Radio to talk about how the largest, Wall-Street-fueled delivery apps are using their market power to extract ever-increasing profits from restaurants.READ MORE


Policy Progress and Coalition Building — Episode 151 of Building Local Power

Policy Progress and Coalition Building — Episode 151 of Building Local Power

Jess Del Fiacco

May 19, 2022

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by several ILSR colleagues: Susan R. Holmberg, Senior Researcher and Editor for the Independent Business initiative; Katie Kienbaum, Senior Researcher for the Energy Democracy initiative; and Sophia Jones, a Fellow with the Composting forREAD MORE


Listen: How Epic Games’ Acquisition of Bandcamp will Impact Independent Artists

Listen: How Epic Games' Acquisition of Bandcamp will Impact Independent Artists

Luke Gannon

March 10, 2022

Ron Knox was featured on The Grapevine, an Australian talk radio show, where he discussed Epic Games recent acquisition of Bandcamp and its effect on independent artists. READ MORE


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