Amazon in Public Procurement: Hidden Costs and Competition Risks with Stacy Mitchell

In this conference call, Stacy Mitchell, Co-Executive Director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, joined The Capitol Forum for a discussion on Amazon’s influence over public procurement. The conversation examined how Amazon’s contracts with cities, counties, and school districts can bypass procurement safeguards, inflate costs, and reduce competition, the ways independent suppliers can outperform Amazon while keeping public dollars local, and the broader implications for pricing, government flexibility, and the health of local economies.