iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"The great risk for the Democratic Party right now is to fail to reckon with the much larger and more powerful issue that affordability candidates are tapping into — and to end up disappointing voters once again." — @superwuster.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/o...

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

We're partnering with Local First Arizona, a powerful network of 3,000 small businesses, for a event on how to rollback corporate consolidation. With Attorney General @krismayes.bsky.social in Phoenix on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd. Join us!

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

4. Now imagine that effect on a vastly larger scale. The earlier increases researchers studied were much smaller and limited to particular industries. The Trump proposal would dramatically raise thresholds across virtually the entire economy.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Lovely time away, lots of hiking. And also very glad to be back.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Amid all the corruption, this is especially gross: the billions Congress/Biden approved to build fiber internet in places left behind has been redirected to Elon Musk & Jeff Bezos for doing nothing. Musk has pocketed $738 million so far. Places like rural Louisiana were screwed.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Councilor Ben Grant was the hero of the hour. He made a compelling case that city leaders must use their discretionary power — rather than hide behind zoning ordinances and falsely insist their hands are tied. We weren't elected to let the city run on "autopilot" he said.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Live Nation lost its bid to build a big concert venue here in Portland, Maine last night! Before an overflow crowd, the City Council rejected the project. For more than a year residents have been campaigning to prevent this monopoly from destroying the local music scene. We won!

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

7. The email evidence is extensive, but it's almost certainly the tip of a much bigger price fixing operation. That's because Amazon trained employees to do this over the phone or to use "legally approved talking points."

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

6. It just keeps going and going... here's a fertilizer maker acting as go-between so Home Depot and Amazon could match each other in raising prices.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

5. When Amazon got mad that Skullcandy earbuds were cheaper on Walmart, the brand made them unavailable on Walmart, ensuring Amazon could charge the higher price.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

3. An Amazon employee responds with, We're "good now" after a lamp company gets Walmart to raise its prices.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

2. Here's Levi's serving as go-between so Walmart and Amazon could cooperate to raise prices on khakis. "In response, Amazon acknowledged that Walmart raised its price and confirmed it had matched that higher price: 'the updated pricing of $29.99 is now showing up on [Amazon].'"

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

1. Boy, Amazon is in a heap of trouble. Evidence made public yesterday by California AG @agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov shows blatant price fixing. And there are so many examples. Here's Amazon scheming with a pet food supplier to get Chewy to raise its prices.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

16. This is why so much may turn on the antitrust case against Amazon, scheduled to go to trial next March. 17 states have joined the case, and could carry it forward on their own if Trump bails. An early ruling from the judge is notably encouraging:

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

10. These tools have learned to exploit Amazon’s rules, says @tedtatos.bsky.social. One tactic is a “wait my turn” strategy: Instead of undercutting the seller with the Buy Box, they hold back, allowing that seller to raise prices, knowing they will get their own turn at the higher price.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

8. This is a novel kind of monopoly power. Economists Zach Brown and Alexander MacKay call it “algorithmic coercion.” And its impact “can be worse for consumers than if firms explicitly coordinated on high prices.” The FTC says Nessie generated $1B+ in extra profit in 3 years.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

5. One is an “anti-discounting” algorithm that matches competitors’ price changes instantly to the penny. When a rival offers a discount, Amazon matches it; when rivals raise prices, Amazon follows. This denies other retailers a way to win customers by lowering prices.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

2. Rather than let Amazon's bots tank their sales on Amazon, sellers raised prices on other sites.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

1. New evidence shows Amazon compelling specific sellers to hike their prices on other shopping sites. This is from depositions in the California antitrust case obtained by The Guardian. Expect a lot more to come out at trial. This drives prices up & is why Amazon has an iron grip.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

3. Amazon has been telling cities and schools that they can help their local businesses by buying through its platform. But Amazon doesn't disclose the size of the fees it charges these businesses — and how big of a cut of their sales it's pocketing for itself.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

2. Local school and municipal officials, and taxpayers, deserve answers to all of the questions she's asking.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

1. It's great to see @warren.senate.gov pressing Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on the shady tactics Amazon is using to overcharge schools and cities for everyday supplies — including sham contracts with algorithmic-driven dynamic pricing.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Want to help your city and local schools stop buying from Amazon? Watch our recent webinar featuring people who successfully pushed their local governments to buy from local suppliers instead — plus practical tips for how to do it in your town. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIS3...

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

13. The biggest tell in Muris’s latest CEI papers/webinar is that there’s no mention — zero — of the newly unsealed FTC complaint laying out how Pepsi violated Robinson-Patman by helping Walmart squeeze rivals and drive up grocery prices. That case was abandoned by the Trump FTC.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

8. Muris also claims that independents couldn’t keep up with the chains' modern distribution systems. In fact, independents built cooperative warehousing & distribution systems that achieved the same scale efficiencies — while allowing stores to stay locally owned & independent.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

7. That’s not what Census data says. In 1967, single-location independent retailers accounted for more than half of retail sales. Thanks to Robinson-Patman enforcement, shoppers had options. And most chose independents.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

5. In fact, the modern supermarket was invented in the 1920s by multiple independent grocers experimenting in different parts of the country. It was A&P that had to scramble to catch up. Here’s the chain’s president explaining:

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

4. One of Muris’s myths is that the grocery chain A&P invented the modern, large-format, self-service supermarket. Here he is making that claim:

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

1. Tim Muris, who held top roles at the FTC in the 1970s-80s and 2000s, has teamed up with the Competitive Enterprise Institute on a new effort to discredit and bury the Robinson-Patman Act. Muris has a record of inventing history to support his agenda. Here are a few examples.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Great event on March 3: How powerful corporations — including Amazon, Instacart, and major landlords — are using pricing algorithms to inflate prices and undermine competition. With Doha Mekki, Katie Wells, Ted Tatos, and moderator Geoffrey Fowler. Register here: ilsr.org/article/inde...

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

2. .Walmart exploited the shift in antitrust policy in multiple ways. One of the most devastating in small towns was that it sold entire categories of goods at a loss — and then raised prices once local retailers closed. Predatory pricing had been illegal, but a 1993 SCOTUS ruling said it was fine.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

And this isn't just in times of crisis. It's playing out in less visible ways all the time. It's one of the major benefits of effective antitrust and other policies that disperse economic power.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

The difference is particularly evident in times of crisis, when small businesses, run by humans who are part of human communities, respond by harnessing the resources at hand to address the needs around them.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Localized, community-rooted, small-scale economic power matters. For decades, we've pretended like it doesn't — and even used policy to aggressively eradicate it.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

9. Reviving enforcement of the law is urgent. Just look at South Dakota. Unable to access fair supplier pricing has left rural grocers like Buche Foods facing an uphill battle to survive — and much of the state at risk of becoming a food desert.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

6. In Colorado’s mountain towns, grocery choices are slim and dominated by Kroger and Albertsons. When they tried to merge, the trial revealed that Kroger had jacked up prices in "no-comp" towns — places with no competition. The merger was meant to create even more no-comp towns.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

5. In Atlanta, as independent grocers disappeared, the big chains bypassed Black and low-income neighborhoods. The dollar chains then inundated these areas — leaving communities overrun with dollar stores and left to subsist on their meager offerings of processed food.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

4. In northern Minnesota, independent grocers are often the only thing standing between rural communities and total loss of grocery access. The map shows how fragile these regions are — and how quickly food deserts would spread if local stores close.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

3. In southwest Missouri, in the Joplin metro (pop 200,000), nearly every grocery location is a Walmart (or Sam’s). Walmart has 82% of the market. Competing grocers are scarce, food deserts are widespread, and nearly one in five residents lacks nearby access to a grocery store.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

2. Last year, Amazon launched “Buy For Me.” Shoppers see AI-generated listings of items otherwise not sold on Amazon. They can click to buy them within the Amazon checkout. Amazon’s AI agent then makes the purchase on the small business's site using a auto-generated email.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

1. Cities and states should outlaw Amazon’s latest assault on small businesses — an AI tool that scrapes their websites and creates listings of their products within the Amazon app without their consent. It’s causing huge, costly problems. This can and should be banned.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Thinking of all my friends and colleagues in Minnesota as thousands gather in Minneapolis. This is a state that has a long and deep history of organizing for justice.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Wishing everyone peace and joy. See you in 2026.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

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. ilsr.org/articles/mem...

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

7. One other big reveal in the evidence is that Walmart appears to have violated the law too by pressuring Pepsi for illegal and unfair discounts.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

6. Why does Pepsi do this? Walmart’s promise is: Keep us the king of our domain and we’ll make you the king of yours. Walmart helps Pepsi dominate the drink market in exchange for Pepsi ensuring that Walmart dominates groceries.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

5. Another example involves Food Lion. Pepsi sees Food Lion as the "worst offender," because it prices Pepsi products below Walmart. So Pepsi creates a multi-year roadmap to force Food Lion to raise its prices.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

4. The examples are stunning. Here's one: Pepsi executives notice that Walmart's price gap is shrinking in its South Division. Pepsi's "Pricing Council" creates extensive plan to ensure other retailers are no longer selling Pepsi products for less than Walmart.

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Stacy Mitchell @stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

3. Pepsi monitors prices at Walmart's competitors. If they see other grocery stores starting to match or beat Walmart on price, an alarm goes off in Pepsi and a team swings into action.

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