Publications
What is antitrust? Quartz's Alison Griswold provides a brief primer on the history of the term antitrust. "Standard Oil is often referred to as the first trust," she writes. "And the legal mechanism Rockefeller pioneered paved the way for an unprecedented period of monopolization in the US." She cites Open Markets Fellow Matt Stoller's new book, Goliath: The 100 Year War Between Monopoly and Democracy.
Read MoreA “trust” is a group of firms or industries organized to concentrate power, and reduce or eliminate competition. The model developed in the 1880s, as burgeoning oil baron John D. Rockefeller sought to consolidate his holdings across state borders by placing stock from different properties into a single entity known as a trust, Open Markets Institute fellow Matt Stoller explains in his new book, Goliath.
Read MoreThe New Republic's Maureen Tkacik writes the story of "WeWork's Adam Neumann and the great game of asset immolation." She cites Open Markets Fellow Matt Stoller's latest book, Goliath: The 100 Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy.
Read MoreThe New York Times' Cecilia Kang and David McCabe report that California said Facebook had resisted or ignored dozens of requests for documents and internal correspondence about the company’s handling of personal data. Sarah Miller, the deputy director of the Open Markets Institute, one of the groups that asked to speak with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, expressed hopefulness that Mr. Becerra would join the antitrust investigations into the tech companies.
Read MoreWashington Post's Rachel Siegel and Tony Romm report on Google's $2.1 billion acquisition of smartwatch maker Fitbit. Open Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard told them that regulators has been "slow to the game" when it comes to looking at how data fortifies the monopoly power of corporations such as Google. “That’s a source of their dominance,” Hubbard said.
Read MoreNew York Time's David McCabe writes that Attorney General Xavier Becerra is in Google and Facebook’s backyard. But unlike nearly all other state attorneys general, he won’t say whether he’s investigating them. McCabe reports that on Oct. 1, eight groups who have advocated more aggressive scrutiny of companies like Facebook and Google wrote to Mr. Becerra asking to discuss their concerns with him. Sarah Miller, the deputy director of one group, the Open Markets Institute, said they wanted “to offer to share our views, to hear his views and to help brief or provide educational support.”
Read MoreReuters reports Alphabet Inc's, Google's holding company's, quarterly results which are under the shadow of a major antitrust probe by over 40 U.S. attorneys general. Open Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard told Reuters five years later the Google practices concerning investigators has not abated. “But the political winds have shifted,” said Hubbard, who worked for the New York AG from 2005 to 2012. “There’s a lot more momentum to fix the situation.”
Read MoreFast Company's Talib Visram profiles Open Markets Institute Executive Director and Founder Barry Lynn. Lynn talks about his “vision of an alternative political economy” based on the nation’s founding principles. Regarding monopolies, Lynn told Fast Company: it is not just the tech companies. They’re just the problem on steroids.”
Read MoreJessica Corbet writes that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has elevated broader concerns about how powerful tech giants are "poisoning the well of our democracy." She cites Open Markets Fellow Matt Stoller's op-ed on the New York Times on how tech companies are destroying democracy.
Read MoreThe Guardian's Lauren Gambino speaks to Open Markets Deputy Director Sarah Miller about Facebook being put under the gun of antitrust scrutiny and reports on Elizabeth Warren and Mark Zuckerberg facing off over big tech and its influence over our lives. “They’re begging for regulation because they know they game it," Miller told The Guardian. "They know they can shape it, they know they can avoid it and they know that it will likely inhibit their competitors who won’t have the same resources. But, more than anything, they do not want to be broken up.”
Read MorePOLITICO's Nancy Scola covers October's Democratic Debate and reports that former Vice President Joe Biden "was the quietest person on stage on the question of how to handle Silicon Valley." She speaks with Open Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard who said of the antitrust portion of the debate “People are understanding that it’s not just some technocratic, boring area. It’s fundamentally about equality and freedom, the American way, the American dream. It’s at the heart of capitalism and what we think of core American values.”
Read MoreAP's Marcy Gordon covers a speech Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made at Georgetown University on "free speech." Reporters were not allowed to ask questions — only students were given that chance, filtered by a moderator. Facebook and Georgetown barred news organizations from filming, Gordon reports. Open Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard told the AP: “It’s quite ironic.”
Read MoreThe Washington Post's Seung Min Kim reports that Demand Justice will release a list of 32 suggested Supreme Court nominees for any future Democratic president as they ramp up their push for the 2020 contenders to do the same. Among their suggested nominees is Open Markets Board Chair Zephyr Teachout.
Read MoreMatt Stoller’s Goliath: The 100 Year-War Between Monopoly and Power and Populism charts the shifts in American attitudes towards corporate concentration. Kyle Sammin reviews the book on the National Review.
Read MoreVox's Tara Golshan reports on Bernie Sanders' plan on corporate accountability and democracy and gets comments from Open Markets Senior Fellow Matt Stoller. “Saying that the FTC has failed its mission and lost its credibility as a regulatory agency is important,” Stoller said. “Bernie is coming out with a progressive platform to address monopolies, but it is actually pro-business platform. ... A lot of the pressure from the FTC is coming from the business community.”
Read MoreAP's Barbara Ortutay reports on how Facebook's Libra project has been battered by defections with the exit of PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, eBay, and Stripe. Sarah Miller, deputy director of Open Markets Institute, told the AP it was “insanity” to trust Facebook to launch a global cryptocurrency when it is already facing regulatory scrutiny around the world over data privacy.
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