Multiple buyouts and bankruptcies have ruined iconic brands and hollowed out skateboarding culture. It’s our financialized economy in miniature.
retail
Posted inWorking in America
AI Surveillance Won’t Stop Theft, but It Might Stop Unions
The loss prevention industry is excited about using technology to combat shoplifting. But workers are getting caught up in the dragnet.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Trumpflation Is Here
The president’s lunatic tariffs are jacking up prices all over the place.
Posted inTAP
Waiting for the Supply Shock
Today on TAP: It’s coming, and we know approximately when.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Amazon’s Latest Seller Squeeze
A controversial policy would effectively charge sellers when Amazon’s logistics team loses or damages their goods. It could enable Amazon to undercut rivals with its own brands.
Posted inEconomic Policy
FTC Revives 1930s Law in Suing Alcohol Distributor
The Robinson-Patman Act, dormant for decades, is invoked in a case alleging that Southern Glazer’s favored big-box stores over independent rivals.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem
Hundreds of generic ink cartridges are listed on the site with the same packaging look as brand-name competitors.
Posted inVideos
The Prospect Weekly Roundup: The Underbelly of the Grocery Store
Nothing you see on the shelves is there by accident.
Posted inEconomic Policy
War in the Aisles
Monopolies across the grocery supply chain squeeze consumers and small-business owners alike. Big Data will only entrench those dynamics further.
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Urge to Surge
Businesses are hiking prices to take advantage of consumers. They learned it from Uber.