Resale prices in the housing market have declined since 2006 by 28.7% and rent prices have grown by just 2% in the last year.   Since 2006, homeowners who want or need to move elsewhere face the painful dilemma of selling at reduced price or renting the house while they await its price recovery.  Most are [...]

Yesterday afternoon, Google’s, chief executive Eric Schmidt made his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee.

What causes a consumer to buy a new, untested product?  A sense of adventure? Curiosity?  Whatever it is, it’s these purchases that drive entrepreneurs to provide products to consumers, and in turn create new industries and generate more commerce that helps the economy. Apple didn’t create the iPod, iPhone, or iPad because of a government [...]

American Consumer Institute president Steve Pociask issued the following statement regarding today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding Google’s competition practices: “At today’s hearing, Google’s Eric Schmidt denied the company has abused its dominant market and claimed that there is competition in the market space. The facts, however, do not support those claims and the comments [...]

Steve Pociask’s latest op-ed on online competition is featured in The Hill’s Congress Blog. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/182081-are-consumers-at-the-mercy-of-google

Many online retailers, including Amazon and WalMart, allow third parties to sell products on their site for a fee.  Amazon has found this to be an extremely successful business, which accounts for 30% of total units sold on the site.  Naturally, other companies are jumping in on the action.  Enter Best Buy, who just last [...]

Economics professor Joseph Fuhr comments on the economic effects that would result if the Sunoco Refinery in Marcus Hook were to close. The article was published in the Delaware County Daily Times on September 8, 2011.

Modernizing USF Fund is Important First Step in Job Growth By Steve Pociask, American Consumer Institute (Posted in The Hill, 9/12/2011) http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/180929-modernizing-u sf-fund-is-an-important-first-step-in-job-growth With the president’s speech this week highlighting the ongoing desperation among American families looking for job creation and economic recovery, Congress should start with the low-hanging fruit: policies and reforms that can [...]

You can download the letter here.

Summary On July 29, 2011, six major telecommunications and broadband providers filed the American’s Broadband Connectivity Plan (ABC Plan) with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The ABC Plan proposes to fix an out-dated Universal Service Fund (USF) and reform the current inter-carrier compensation mechanisms. The plan proposes modernizing the USF program by ending the current [...]