About us
Welcome to The Economic Populist, where we here at the American Economic Liberties Project will examine and break down corporate power and how it shapes our day-to-day lives.
Monopoly isn’t simply the name of a board game or a term from the history books. It is, increasingly, an American way of corporate and economic existence, the end goal for some of the largest and most profitable companies ever known. In areas ranging from technology to housing, the growth of giant companies that substantially reduce or utterly squash competition is impacting all our lives for the worse. Monopoly power explains everything from soaring grocery bills to increasing pharmaceutical prices and why small businesses find it increasingly hard to make a go of it. Think the rent is too damn high? It turns out there are powerful business interests behind that, too.
Who are we? The American Economic Liberties Project, a non-profit and non-partisan research and advocacy organization, houses experts on economic and regulatory policy across industries — from airlines to finance, tech, healthcare, and much more. We work on these issues day after day, so we’re devoted to translating that knowledge towards concrete, wide-ranging policy change that can begin to address today’s crisis of concentrated economic power. We work with farmers, pharmacists, grocers, workers, tech entrepreneurs, physicians, consumer advocates, musicians and more.
There is a growing movement to push back on out-of-control corporate power and dominance, and we invite you join it! We are fighting for fair and just markets, for protecting people over profits, and, yes, for freedom — against corporations that would chain you to a job with a non-compete contract, against the corporate practice of medicine that prioritizes their bottom line over the health and well-being of you and your loved ones, and against businesses that abuse their power to impose junk fee after junk fee on us. (Ticketmaster, we’re looking at you.)
We promise not to deluge your inbox. We plan to publish an in-depth look at an issue in the world of corporate power once a week, along with end-of-week, brief summations on the most important news happening in government and economic policymaking.
Most importantly, we want to hear from you. You don’t have to be an antitrust lawyer, an economist, or policy wonk to be a part of this work and movement.
The age of monopoly and outsized corporate power has left all too many of us adrift, feeling anonymous and convinced there is no recourse. The Economic Populist will bridge the gap between the complexity of anti-monopoly policy and our day-to-day experiences, explain why it matters, and show how it can improve the quality of all our lives. We’ll unpack what’s happening in the fight against corporate power and how it affects you, your family, your business and your community – and offer steps to fight back. Knowledge is power. Join our community. Together, we can fight for a just economic system, one that’s better for both individuals, workers and businesses alike.
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About the American Economic Liberties Project
The American Economic Liberties Project launched in February 2020 to help translate the intellectual victories of the anti-monopoly movement into momentum towards concrete, wide-ranging policy changes that begin to address today’s crisis of concentrated economic power.
As concern over concentrated economic power has broadened beyond the community of antitrust reformers, Economic Liberties has quickly grown into a hub for organizing a diverse set of leading policy experts and advocates in areas impacted by concentrated power, ranging from community development to national security to entrepreneurship.
Working together with a growing network of allies, we call on the government to re-assert essential policy tools — like aggressive investigatory agendas, robust antitrust enforcement, anti-corruption measures, corporate accountability, and a reinvigorated administrative state — to challenge monopolies’ dominance over markets and society.
We are non-profit and non-partisan and do not accept any funding from corporations. Contributions and grants from foundations and individuals pay for the work we do.
