ILSR has conducted a sweeping investigation that reveals Amazon has quietly become a major force in how cities, counties, and school districts purchase basic supplies — and that its tightening grip is ...

For all of its reach, Amazon, the company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1995 as an online bookstore, is still remarkably invisible. It makes it easy not to notice how powerful and wide-ranging it has ...

AI technology and large language models are growing in popularity. Also growing is the technology’s detrimental effect on the environment. Each query into ChatGPT, to use one example, requires ...

Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar are targeting vulnerable communities, opening stores at a breakneck pace in urban and rural areas alike. It’s tempting to assume that these chains simply ...

Chain dollar stores are inundating America’s communities. In both small towns and urban neighborhoods, they are edging out locally owned businesses, freezing out entrepreneurs, and shifting profits ...

Big Waste dominates every aspect of solid waste and recycling practice and policy. The top four consolidated companies earn $30 billion of the $70 billion economic sector. Big Waste companies own or ...

For decades — from the 1930s until the 1980s — the U.S. grocery industry was remarkably competitive, with independent grocers thriving alongside large chains like Kroger and Safeway. Independent ...

ILSR’s new report, Upcharge: Hidden Costs of Electric Utility Monopoly Power, is a deep dive into the problems associated with the 100-year-old model granting private companies exclusive power over ...

A tool to help consumers, reporters, and policymakers explore the effect of utility profit rates on electricity bills. Select a state, and either enter or select your monthly bill amount to calculate ...

Click on image to download the fact sheet. As lawmakers have grown increasingly serious about addressing Amazon’s harms, Amazon has sought to portray itself as beneficial to independent small ...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed suit against Amazon for monopolizing e-commerce in violation of U.S. antitrust laws. This explainer looks at why the lawsuit was filed and what it seeks to ...

In 43 metropolitan areas and 160 smaller markets, Walmart captures 50 percent or more of grocery sales, our analysis of 2018 spending data found. In 38 of these regions, Walmart’s share of the grocery ...