1. Big news! The FTC took action today to end Walmart’s stranglehold on the grocery market. The agency filed suit against Pepsi for giving illegal and unfair price advantages to Walmart while charging competing grocery retailers higher prices.
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2. It is a violation of the Robinson-Patman Act for a large supplier to collaborate with a big retail chain to help it drive smaller retailers out of business and dominate the market. But for the last 40 years — until now — the FTC declined to enforce the law.
3. Walmart has deftly exploited the lack of enforcement. For decades, it has strong-armed suppliers, demanding special deals while forcing suppliers to hike their prices to competing chains and independent retailers.
4. Walmart owes its dominance largely to this anti-competitive tactic. Walmart captures $1 of every $4 that Americans spend on food. It accounts for more than 50% of grocery sales in 43 metropolitan areas and 160 micropolitan areas. See full report here: https://ilsr.org/articles/walmarts-monopolization-of-local-grocery-markets/
5. This graph shows what suspending Robinson-Patman enforcement did. It led to the rapid decline of independent grocers and allowed a few chains to capture the market. See full piece here: https://ilsr.org/articles/policy-shift-local-grocery/
There's still a Democratic majority until Trump's replacement for Khan is confirmed. (Dems stupidly didn't confirm a new appointment after Khan's term expired, which would have left the FTC in D hands until 2026. GOP won't make the same mistake.)
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"Friday’s lawsuit is part of a raft of measures that Khan has filed during her last week in office, with Republican commissioners dissenting on many"
These won't stick once Trump takes power, but at least he'll be forced to actively side with the monopolists over the people.