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Yesterday, in a milestone win for American democracy, the rule of law, and fair markets, New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with 47 state and territorial AGs, and the Federal Trade Commission, filed suit against Facebook challenging its illegal monopoly power over social media communications. Our Executive Director, Sarah Miller, joined other leading voices in applauding the case in AG James' new release.
The result of years of incredible intellectual and advocacy work, these cases, along with the House Antitrust Subcommittee’s historic investigation into digital markets, and the DOJ’s antitrust suit against Google, send a message the country is desperate to hear: even the world’s most powerful corporations are no longer above the law.
We’d like to send a message too: Thank You! If you’d like to thank your state attorney general for taking on one of the world's most dangerous monopolies on your behalf, or if you’d like to share your Facebook story, join us here. And read more about these groundbreaking cases by checking out Economic Liberties’ Research Director Matt Stoller interview with Anand Giridharadas in The Ink.
The party still isn’t over. In coming weeks, state attorneys general are also expected to file additional cases against Google. Keep an eye out; we sure will.
THE LATEST
Break ‘Em Up! and Senator Bernie Sanders: On December 15, we’re excited to partner with People’s Action to kick off the first event in our series “Break ‘Em Up! Redistributing Economic Power to the People.” The series will bring together a diverse range of progressive voices to share stories and information about the ways unchecked corporate power hurts workers, small businesses, communities, and our democracy and help galvanize progressives to hold policymakers accountable for addressing it.
Economic Liberties and People’s Action’s first event will examine how concentrated corporate power hurts labor and workplace organizing efforts and features remarks from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. David Cicilline, author and advocate Zephyr Teachout, and labor leaders including Saru Jayaraman, Veena Dubal, and Mike Wilson. RSVP here and read more about antimonopoly organizing opportunities here.
Answering a $15 Trillion Question: Economic Liberties published a groundbreaking new report, “The New Money Trust,” focused on the oligopoly in asset management — BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, which together control more than $15 trillion in combined global assets under management. Authored by Senior Fellow Graham Steele, the report illustrates the dangerous implications of this highly concentrated industry, which include more anticompetitive behavior, more systemic risk, increased influence over political power, and distorted corporate governance.
It also lays out a suite of recommendations to curb their dominance for policymakers to consider. Read more about “The New Money Trust” in The New York Times, the Financial Times, CNN Business, Politico, The American Prospect and Institutional Investor.
Taking on Dominant Delivery Apps: The Protect Our Restaurants campaign continues to drive the national conversation about the way that app-based delivery companies attempt to take advantage of the pandemic and hurt small business owners and local economies. Since launching in August, more than 40 cities and states have passed caps to protect independent restaurants from delivery app platforms’ extortionary fees. The report we released on the industry presents the most comprehensive look at the effect of these predatory practices, and we continue to partner with our allies and team of restaurant owners to push for regulatory change and enforcement at the local, state, and federal level.
To learn more, watch the event we hosted with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance featuring Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, who is calling for an investigation of delivery apps, and independent restaurant owners who are fighting back. To stay up-to-date on the campaign, or if you know a restaurant owner who might want to connect with us, click here to sign up for Protect Our Restaurant info.
The Corporate Power Problem in the Caring Economy: Writing for The American Prospect's special issue on the family care crisis, Senior Fellow Moe Tkacik exposed the private equity-driven corporatization of nursing homes and the tragic, avoidable consequences for America’s seniors and their families.
COVID-19, Corporate Power, and Resiliency: The COVID-19 economic shutdown has revealed just how dependent we are on Chinese manufacturing — not only for toys and trinkets, but also for life-and-death goods like medicine and military components. In fact, a recent national security report outlined deep U.S. dependence on Chinese manufacturing for materials “deemed strategic and critical to U.S. national security.”
Economic Liberties’ Director of National Security Policy Lucas Kunce convened experts, including Director of the Defense Innovation Unit Mike Brown, author and China expert Jennifer Harris, and former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler,for a conversation about resiliency, domestic competition, and China policy. Watch here. And to learn more, read Kunce’s new piece on the issue in The American Prospect.
Building Back Better: Economic Liberties’ Executive Director Sarah Miller was chosen to serve on President-elect Biden’s Treasury Agency Review Team. In addition to advising the incoming administration on issues of corporate power, Economic Liberties led a letter to the transition team with 35+ progressive groups urging the administration to build a diverse administration that is also free of corporate influence. Economic Liberties’ Senior Advisor Morgan Harper also talked to The Hill about how the administration can build on recent efforts to rein in Big Tech.
Introducing New Members of Our Team: As we work to advance the anti-monopoly movement, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve recently welcomed five new team members to Economic Liberties and our 501(c)4 Fight Corporate Monopolies: Zach Freed, Morgan Harper, Nidhi Hegde, Reed Showalter, and David Toppelberg.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE NETWORK
*For Foreign Affairs, Zephyr Teachout illustrates why the fight against inequality is a fight against monopoly power and outlines what progressives must do to end our gilded age.
* The New York Times’ Kara Swisher hosted Columbia Law’s Lina Khan on her podcast “Sway” for a discussion about how concentrations of private power threaten our economic and civil liberties, and the momentum that’s building for turning the page on decades of severe failure on the part of antitrust enforcers.
* Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook and the author of Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, explained why a Biden-Harris administration must grapple with the economic and democratic threat of corporate monopolies in The Washington Post.
* In an exclusive for The Nation, ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell and Sue Holmberg made a powerful case to progressives on the need to support small businesses, arguing that doing so will help strengthen labor and fight the increasing concentration of corporate power.
EXTRA CREDIT
Three members of our team publish specialty newsletters that make for required reading as corporate power becomes increasingly central to the national conversation. Sign up or explore the archives below!
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