Olivia LaVecchia

This is a very good and sobering column about the decline of small business. It echoes some of the points I made in this paper: ilsr.org/monopoly-power… twitter.com/DLeonhardt/sta…

One thing that stands out here is this piece on the "premises" behind this approach to antitrust. These are some pretty big assumptions to make. And 40 years later, there's a lot of evidence that suggests that they're wrong.

If you read one thing about the AT&T-Time Warner decision, read this: nytimes.com/2018/06/13/bus…

Hey, come work at @ilsr! Our Community-Scaled Economy program is hiring. Check out the job posting and help us spread the word: ilsr.org/come-work-with…

"Since Alden took over in '12, the Pioneer Press has lost more than half of newsroom employees through layoffs, buy outs & attrition. It's been a slow painful bleed," says @NFerraroPiPress. Alden’s '17 profits in St Paul: $10M. #AldenExposed #InvestOrSell

This is enraging. Newspapers are a public trust. And they can be profitable! Just not as profitable in the short term as hedge funders seem to want them to be. twitter.com/ByRosenberg/st…

Community leaders in cities that Amazon has shortlisted for #HQ2 are demanding more than secrecy and subsidies. Check out actions happening this week, like this one by @GrassrootsChi: chicago.suntimes.com/news/protester…. And see the alternative vision: ourhq2wishlist.org #ourhq2wishlist

With rising rents impacting local businesses, cities are starting to take action. Here's a look at new programs in 3 cities that "set-aside" affordable space for local businesses in new development: ilsr.org/new-action-on-…

Big chicken companies exercise such "comprehensive control" over chicken farmers that $1.8 billion in recent Small Business Administration loans to those farmers might not have met SBA rules for independence. sba.gov/node/1615442 cc @leahjdouglas

“It’s a sweet victory that the little community business that was supposed to fail ended up outliving the A-credit tenant that was supposed to be there forever.” twitter.com/stacyfmitchell…

The latest issue of our monthly newsletter is out today, and it's good. @stacyfmitchell's feature on Amazon in the Nation, our podcast episode with @StrongTowns, @BW on policies to restrict chain stores, + more. Check it out and sign up: mailchi.mp/ilsr/our-featu…

Please subscribe to a local paper. Get the digital edition. This is the cost of being a citizen. twitter.com/ceciliakang/st…

Amazon just patented a wristband that would track employees' every move, log the time they take for bathroom breaks, and even vibrate when they're doing something "wrong." nytimes.com/2018/02/01/tec… #FutureofWork

The piece also has this telling anecdote. After an Amazon warehouse worker went to school for his commercial driving license, "the best job he could find was working for a third-party contractor, driving a truck for Amazon." That's the Amazon economy.

Amazon talks about itself as a job creator. But its arrival is often a mixed bag for communities. "Is any new job a good job?... Amazon can exacerbate the economic problems city leaders had hoped it would solve." Good, nuanced piece from @AlanaSemuels. theatlantic.com/business/archi…

"Like many elected officials, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop talks a lot about the need to support small businesses. Unlike many, he’s put policies in place." Great piece from @nickleiber. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Amazon's HQ2 is getting cities and states to offer huge incentive packages. But it's a "failed development strategy," writes @nytimes: nytimes.com/2018/01/26/bus…

This is a great piece from @DKThomp on the economic bright spot that is craft beer, the particular regulatory environment that enabled it, and the lessons it has for the rest of the economy. Read to the very end. theatlantic.com/business/archi…

I love this hopeful, important piece about @CTUL_TC, "one of the most effective worker centers anywhere in America." splinternews.com/walking-the-fl…

Great thread here from @stacyfmitchell about the ongoing upheaval in retail and what it means for cities. twitter.com/stacyfmitchell…