Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Building local power. Fighting corporate control.

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[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

Democrats are talking about the soaring electricity prices and a broken utility system — but so far none have had the guts to attack the underlying issue. "No politicians or candidates yet have talked about breaking up the monopolies themselves," writes @johnffarrell in @Capitol_Forum

[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

1. Amazon has built powerful pricing algorithms that have learned how to steer prices upward — not just on Amazon, but across the web. I have a new piece on how these algorithms work, and how they help sustain Amazon’s monopoly.

[Zephyr Teachout @ZephyrTeachout]

The Consumer Grocery Pricing Fairness Act is a critical law to protect citizens who need affordable groceries AND independent grocers, both of whom are getting beaten up by big chains.

The law would enshrine in New York what has been federal law for a century, but hasn't been federally enforced (with a brief moment during Lina Khan's tenure as the exception).

Walmart will try to tell people that they have an impossible choice -- either cheap food or community-access and independent grocers--but after a recent lawsuit was released through the work of @ilsr, recent research by Asil Aslihan, and some powerful truthtelling by @NSAGLOBAL and @ActionYama and others, the game is up. Its clear they are using their power to manipulate prices and bully out competition so they can hike prices more. The coalition around the Consumer Grocery Pricing Fairness Act is growing.

Terrific work by @SenatorCCleare and @MicahLasher to build the support to get it passed in New York!

[Washington Monthly @monthly]

Online price swings look like fierce competition. In reality, they’re part of an invisible strategy that steers the entire market upward, writes @stacyfmitchell of the @ilsr.
https://t.co/o7B6WthXl1

[Spotlight on Poverty @povertynews]

Our latest exclusive looks at a new interactive map from @ilsr that visualizes grocery deserts across the nation: https://t.co/GOXatpD5ED

[Institute for Local Self-Reliance @ilsr]

@rhodeislandmike @stacyfmitchell @linamkhan @rhodeislandmike Here you go, good sir - https://t.co/WeWun3Lhlb

[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

Walmart used its power over suppliers to push grocery prices up. This terrific explainer draws on newly unsealed details from an antitrust case filed under @linamkhan & dropped by the Trump FTC. I’m proud that @ilsr helped get the case unsealed. And thrilled to help tell the story.

[OrganizedMoneyPod @OrgMoneyPod]

@stacyfmitchell from the @ILSR joins to talk about unsealed FTC case docs that may reveal a key unlawful reason why your food bill skyrocketed this decade. @matthewstoller & @ddayen help get to the bottom of it all on this week's episode.

Link in reply.

[Athena Coalition @athenaforall]

Want a step-by-step guide for getting your state or city to cancel their contracts with Amazon? RSVP for the Jan 8th webinar with us, @powerswitchact and @ilsr! https://t.co/63YlgUZvNn

[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

1. New York’s affordability crisis flows from a deeper problem: essential systems — groceries, energy, Internet, banking, healthcare — have consolidated in the hands of distant corporations. Today, ILSR sent the Mamdani team a memo laying out policies to reclaim local control.

[David Dayen @ddayen]

From me: Trump's FTC dismissed a Lina Khan case against Pepsi's price discrimination, then claimed it was "purely political" with no evidence. But advocates got the now-defunct case unsealed, & it reveals how pricing really works in America.
https://t.co/Tjx7w42atg

[Zephyr Teachout @ZephyrTeachout]

Amazon ripping off school districts with shady personalized price gouging

[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

"To the end consumer, it creates an optical illusion. Walmart appears to be a low-cost retailer, but that’s because it induces its suppliers to push prices up at rivals." Exactly right.

[Matt Stoller @matthewstoller]

Now we've finally learned the real story behind Pepsi's greedflation episode during Covid - it was a market power problem, a scheme with Walmart to inflate prices and consolidate the grocery market. And Trump's FTC Chair tried to hide it. https://t.co/3NLaaCADLG

[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

You can find the full investigation — plus our guide to how to tell if your local government is being hoodwinked by Amazon, and what to do about it — here: https://t.co/mIGJ4B4MRJ

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

A new investigation revealed that school districts and local governments are reportedly overpaying for supplies because of Amazon contracts that bind them to dynamic pricing.

Rather than allow for competitive bidding, the deals “covertly raise prices and inflate costs for governments.”

[Lina Khan @linamkhan]

One of the last cases we filed charged that Pepsi schemed with Walmart to hike prices at the grocery store and punish retailers that wanted to offer people dealing with inflation a better price.

This new @FTC nixed the case and tried to hide the allegations.

Grateful to @ilsr for getting the complaint unsealed and shedding light on this key issue.

[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

1. This is now unsealed. The FTC filing shows Pepsi worked closely with Walmart to force other retailers to raise their prices on Pepsi products. The Khan-era FTC brought the case; Trump/Ferguson dropped it as “weak.” It looks anything but. It directly targets high prices.

[Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell]

1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was dropped in May by @AFergusonFTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.

[ron knox @ronmknox]

1. Hello. Today, @ilsr won its fight to unseal the FTC’s full lawsuit against Pepsi for engaging in illegal price discrimination. The unreacted complaint tells the story of how Pepsi and Walmart conspired to raise the price of Pepsi products across the economy. Follow along.