AnalysisAntitrust Radar
What the concentration data says, and what should happen about it.
Editorials, ranked data stories, and the weekly Concentration Watch column. The position is Antitrust Radar's; every figure is computed from the site's published datasets and links to the page that holds it.
- Concentration Watch · Issue 1
585 words · 2 ranked tablesConcentration Watch: 41 in-depth merger reviews among 1,944 eligible deals
The first issue of our weekly column: a 2.1 percent Second Request rate in fiscal 2025, three proposed settlements and a court-ordered remedy in the enforcement ledger since September, and the three numbers we will keep returning to.
Merger review that questions 2 percent of eligible deals is a filter, not a check. The agencies have the data to investigate more; the column keeps a public tally of whether they do.
- Data story
654 words · 3 ranked tablesIn 12 U.S. industries, four firms take at least 90 cents of every dollar
The 2022 Economic Census publishes a four-firm share for 897 detailed industries. Twelve are above 90 percent, 43 are above 80, and 406 of the 781 industries whose definition is unchanged since 2017 grew more concentrated.
The Census Bureau already publishes the screen. The agencies should use it as one, opening industry-level reviews where the four-firm share is above 80 percent and rising.
- Data story
800 words · 4 ranked tablesBank concentration rose in half the country. Here is where it rose the most.
The United States lost 1,732 bank holding organizations and 16,090 branches between 2015 and 2025. Delaware's statewide deposit concentration nearly tripled, five states now sit above the 2,500 HHI line, and four banks lead 296 counties between them.
Bank merger review is conducted statewide and approved on schedule. The evidence says the harm is local, so the review should be too.
- Data story
625 words · 3 ranked tables187 U.S. counties have exactly one bank
In 187 counties and county equivalents, every FDIC-reported branch belongs to one organization. In 207, the leading bank holds at least 90 percent of deposits. Ten years earlier the one-bank count was 143.
A county with one bank has no local competition to protect. Bank merger review should treat a deal that creates or entrenches one as presumptively harmful, and the FDIC should publish the county screen itself.
- Editorial
855 words · no tablesConcentration is a policy choice. We are going to keep score.
Why Antitrust Radar exists, what it will publish, who pays for it, and the one line it will not cross.
American markets have narrowed in ways the public record already shows. Enforcement has not kept pace. A research center that says so, with numbers anyone can check, is overdue.
How to read these pieces
Analysis pieces state Antitrust Radar's editorial position. Every figure is computed from the site's published datasets at build time and links to the page that holds it. Concentration measures identify where to look; they do not by themselves establish market power, harm, or unlawful conduct.