Welcome to The Corner. In this issue, the problem with Facebook’s new Libra currency and why Facebook’s and Google’s power over digital media doesn’t mean the US should tolerate other powerful corporations.
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Last week, Mars, the company best known for brands like Snickers, Skittles, and Wrigley’s gum, purchased AniCura, a network of 200 animal hospitals spanning seven European countries. On its face, Mars’ acquisition of AniCura might not seem to make business sense. What synergies could possibly exist between making candy bars and taking care of sick dogs and cats? Yet, it turns out the deal is part of a much larger trend in which Big Food companies are cornering the business of both feeding and caring for pets.
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Sandeep explains how antitrust laws are being used an anti-worker tool.
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The Economist notes Barry Lynn and Matt Stoller's role in the debate on how to address tech monopolies, and endorses the idea that Facebook should be separate from WhatsApp and Instagram, a measure that the Open Markets Institute was first to call for.
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In this issue of The Corner, we look at U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's extreme pro-corporate record in antitrust cases. We report on the troubling implications of Match Group's roll-up of dating apps and question its intentions. And we interview Stacy Mitchell on Amazon's effort to grab power over your local government's procurement business.
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Lina Khan's March op-ed is cited in this article explaining the consequences of the Supreme Court ruling.
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Matt explains the danger the individual citizen faces by endorsing the business model of total surveillance and discrimination and the recent AT&T Supreme Court decision.
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In the Financial Times, Barry Lynn writes that this decision will make it harder to bring even basic antitrust complaints.
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Lina Khan explains the negative effect the Supreme Court decision has on the effectiveness of antitrust scrutiny of dominant tech platforms.
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Lina Khan's article in the Yale Law Journal is cited as a resource to explain Amazon's market power.
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In response to the Supreme Court's decision in Ohio v. American Express, the Open Markets Institute released the following statement.
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In The Des Moines Register, Open Markets' fellow Austin Frerick writes about the Iowa Farm Bureau's power over agricultural policy and how its private revenue sources have given it significant clout both in Iowa and in the national agricultural space. It continues to push for cultivation of only a few crops without any consideration of the consequences of this model on rural Americans. Monopolies, however, thrive under this system.
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"We are not consumers, as they define us. We are not mere seekers of stuff, as they define us. We are not even merely workers, fighting merely for workers rights, as they define us. We are Citizens, and we seek nothing more, nor less, than a Citizen’s Liberty. Liberty to think freely. To share equally in all rule. To own our own selves absolutely."
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Barry explains why the US government is right to oppose the mega-merger a judge allowed this week and why an appeal must follow.
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In this issue of The Corner, we highlight several ways to protect the Free Press from Facebook and Google, proposed by participants in OMI's "Breaking the News" conference on June 12. We also explain why the Department of Justice should appeal the recent decision allowing AT&T to complete its takeover of Time Warner.
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Open Markets Executive Director Barry Lynn and fellow Lina Khan speak with Robert Levine at The Boston Globe about why monopoly is today's major challenge, how the definition of antitrust has changed over time, and why regulators and policymakers have failed to enforce it.
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Properly applied, antitrust enforcement helps to ensure a balance of power between workers and employers.
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