Fighting for Democracy Amid the AI Race: Designing Tech Industrial Policy to Promote Democratic Economic Governance

Open Markets' Europe director, Max von Thun, and industrial policy program manager, Audrey Stienon, discuss in Competition Policy International's TechREG Chronicle how AI policy narratives framed around the goal of "winning" a global race threaten to undermine the democratic values that this technology is supposed to help defend. Instead, von Thun and Stienon present a vision for an industrial strategy for AI centered on democratic governance as a means of protecting the public interest.

ArticlesOpen MarketsApril 7, 2026Audrey Stienon, Max von Thun, april 2026, Europe, Politics, Primary Feature

The Corner Newsletter: Trump’s H1-B Policy Promotes Monopoly & Sen. Murphy Embraces OMI Strategy on Pricing Law (April 7th, 2026)

In this issue, we explore how the Administration’s new H1-B visa policy favors dominant tech monopolies and how Sen. Murphy’s Fair Prices Act favor’s free enterprise

NewslettersOpen MarketsApril 7, 2026Secondary Feature, 2026, Politics, Antitrust Law, april 2026

In New Book, OMI Chief Economist Brian Callaci Examines How Powerful Franchisors Have Eaten Our Lunch

In Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy (University of Chicago Press, April 20, 2026), Brian Callaci delivers the first comprehensive history of how franchising has shaped American capitalism. It reveals franchising as a hidden architecture of power, one that allows corporations to dominate markets while evading responsibility.

Open Markets Institute Condemns Sysco's Plan to Buy Restaurant Depot

Claire Kelloway weighs in on the news that restaurant food distributor Sysco Corporation is planning to buy its competitor Restaurant Depot:

Financial Times - Can Europe Make a Difference?

Open Markets Europe director Max von Thun argued in this co-written article that Europe has an opportunity to counter concentrated tech power and assert global economic leadership by aligning digital markets with democratic values and deeper economic integration

Financial Times - Iran war has exposed US fragility at sea

Transportation analyst Arnav Rao argues that repeated global supply chain shocks now intensified by maritime disruptions expose the failure of U.S. policy to balance efficiency with resilience, underscoring the need for long-term public investment and antimonopoly industrial strategy in shipbuilding.

The Corner Newsletter: State Regulation of Private Equity (March 24th, 2026)

In this issue, we explore how states are stepping in to regulate private equity firms, whose investment practices are increasingly hurting local communities.

NewslettersOpen MarketsMarch 24, 2026Secondary Feature, 2026, Technology & Power, Europe, march 2026, labor, Law

Building a Democratic Digital Future Together: Open Markets and Proton

The Open Markets Institute, Open Markets Institute Europe and Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets were deeply grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2025 Proton Lifetime Charity Fundraiser, organized by the Proton Foundation.

Open Markets Institute Welcomes "Fair Prices for Local Businesses Act"

OMI praised U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and his colleagues for introducing the Fair Prices for Local Businesses Act, landmark legislation to curb corporate price discrimination and restore fair competition for small businesses across the country.

Open Markets Institute Applauds Illinois HB 3213 to Ban Non-Compete Clauses

In testimony submitted to the Illinois House Labor & Commerce Committee, Sandeep Vaheesan emphasized the far-reaching harms caused by non-compete agreements and the urgent need for a comprehensive ban.

Bloomberg Law - Antitrust Enforcement to Survive Through States, Private Parties

Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan explains that despite weakening federal antitrust leadership, enforcement can continue through state attorneys general and private actors, underscoring that the broader antimonopoly movement does not depend solely on the executive branch.

Op-EdsSandeep VaheesanMarch 10, 2026Sandeep Vaheesan, march 2026, 2026, Antitrust Law, Politics, Secondary Feature

NYBR - Building the Electrostate

Open Markets legal director Sandeep Vaheesan makes a case for expanding public ownership in the U.S. electric power sector, arguing it‘s the best way to secure affordable energy and decarbonization.

ArticlesSandeep VaheesanMarch 9, 2026Sandeep Vaheesan, march 2026, 2026, Politics, Secondary Feature

The Corner Newsletter: Next Railroad Crisis? And Sandeep Vaheesan’s Electric Essay (March 10th, 2026)

In this issue, we explore the sobering lessons of the last big railroad merger to evaluate the proposal to merge Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern.

OMI Reacts to Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Deal & Trump’s Apparent Interference

Dr. Courtney Radsch, director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets released the following statement concerning the news that Netflix has dropped its bid for Warner Brothers Discovery and by default, enabled Paramount to advance its own offer.

In The New York Review of Books: Expanding Public Ownership in the Power Sector

In an essay published in The New York Review of Books, Sandeep Vaheesan makes a case for expanding public ownership in the U.S. electric power sector—arguing that an expansion of democratically controlled public power is the best way to secure affordable energy and decarbonization.

The Corner Newsletter: Google’s Proprietary AI Chips and a Playbook for Stopping Private Equity (February 24th, 2026)

In this issue, we explore how Google’s proprietary AI chips will do little to dent Nvidia’s monopoly over the industry. We also released a new playbook to help state policymakers stop the encroachment of private equity into child care..

The Sling - Union-Busting as an Unfair Method of Competition

Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan speaks on how union-busting should be treated as an illegal monopolistic practice under antitrust law because it gives firms an unfair competitive advantage by violating workers’ rights and undermining law-abiding rivals

Op-EdsSandeep VaheesanFebruary 23, 2026Sandeep Vaheesan, 2026, february 2026, Labor, Antitrust Law, Secondary Feature

New Playbook Provides Solutions to Stop Private Equity Takeover of the Child Care Industry

The Open Markets Institute alongside Community Change/Action, National Women’s Law Center, and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund released The Children Before Profits State Playbook, which equips state and local organizers, advocates, and policymakers with practical tools to address the risks posed by the growing role of private equity in U.S. child care markets.

Monopoly Matters