🏠📄NEW: Our latest paper — "Capital Crunch" — is OUT NOW! The paper details the policy choices that created today’s financialized homebuilding industry, which bends to the will of Wall Street, restricting single-family home supply and raising prices. 👇

Our weekly rewind at @econliberties.bsky.social Substack features my concerns about several key post-shutdown issues: • DOT's mistreatment of controllers • Effects of furloughing FAA safety inspectors • FAA's implementation of flight cuts More to come... economicpopulist.substack.com/p/weekly-rew...

Teamed up with @kkjetelina.bsky.social for a post on the state of US health care—and why the ACA subsidy debate in Washington is too small. 1/x

"We would have small businesses tell us that if they walked into a Walmart or a Costco the retail price at those stores is lower than the wholesale price that a small business is getting." @linamkhan.bsky.social on the need to enforce the Robinson-Patman Act to stop price discrimination👇

“The troops can't even fix their own stuff because of these contracts where it's gotta be repaired by the company or their subcontractor. It costs the public a lot of money. It hurts readiness for the troops." Rep. Deluzio on the need to enact right to repair reforms for our military👇

1/NEW: Big Tech data centers are bleeding communities dry — and they don’t want you to know. Our new report from Pat Garofalo breaks down how data centers exploit public money and pass costs onto consumers — all while NDAs hide the true impacts of these projects🧵👇

Your data shouldn't be used to make you pay more -- but surveillance pricing puts that at risk. "We've already seen studies that show some rideshare companies seem to jack up prices when they can tell your battery is lower."

Packed house for Lina Khan at Crooked Con. Lively discussion on the need to fight corporate power to lower costs, empower workers, and stop authoritarianism--and her work co-chairing @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's transition.

Tech billionaire Marc Andreessen donated millions to support Trump. Now, he's getting exactly what he hoped for. Donald Trump's shuttering of the CFPB is a betrayal of American consumers — and a gift to corporate giants looking for a pardon.

Thanks to NPR: "'Part of the issue is travel disruptions don't happen in a vacuum,' said McGee @econliberties.bsky.social. 'Instead, they often create a domino effect, impacting other flights and airports. Delays and cancellations beget delays and cancellations.'" www.ipm.org/2025-11-06/h...

Live Nation's CFO said on an earnings call yesterday that he does not expect Live Nation-Ticketmaster to be broken up, "even if the DOJ prevails." The comments come as Trump enforcers continue to settle key cases. The DOJ hasn't brought a single merger to court this year.

BREAKING: Former FTC chair Lina Khan to serve as co-chair of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral transition team.

And, with that, the oral arguments WRAP. Now festivities shift to front steps of the court, where litigants will do press. My biggest takeaway: Tho oral arguments arent ispositive of where court will go, bet Trump staff will be dusting off other statutes that give a prez...

Russell Vought's shuttering of the CFPB abandons American consumers — leaving them vulnerable to corporate abuse and scams. “Never before in the CFPB’s short history have we seen such an almost complete abandonment of its obligations under the law."

Proud to announce the launch of EndSubscriptionTraps.com, a powerful new digital campaign designed to spotlight and end deceptive #subscription practices through #legislation @erinwitte-cfa.bsky.social @econliberties.bsky.social Center for Law & Economic Justice at UC Berkeley #ClicktoCancel

No one likes surprise post free-trial charges or hard-to-cancel subscriptions — except the corporate giants profiting off of it. That's why, w/ @consumerfed.bsky.social & @ucbconsumerlaw.bsky.social, we're launching endsubscriptiontraps.com, a digital campaign focused on ending subscription traps.

"...an acquisition by either Netflix or Paramount-Skydance would deepen a crisis of media concentration that is already driving up prices and eroding freedom of expression." More in our statement on potential buyers of Warner Bro. Discovery👇

If you haven't already, read Rethink Trade's Katie Hettinga's write-up on Trump's new trade "deals". economicpopulist.substack.com/i/177689800/...

“[Lotteries] involve the state directly preying on the hopes of the poorest Americans and redistributing funds from poorer communities to richer ones, through explicit public policy." NEW: Pat Garofalo in Boondoggle on how lotteries exploit — and why they should be abolished👇

ICYMI: Despite Trump's claims that the economy is doing well and that there's "No Inflation," Americans aren't falling for it. "Americans are not fooled by Trump’s reality-show version of the economy," @helaineolen.bsky.social writes in @msnbc.com .

Russell Vought's gutting of the CFPB has been devastating, with the majority of staff being fired and numerous enforcement actions against corporate wrong doers being dismissed. Now Vought is saying he is shutting the agency down — a move numerous lawmakers are now questioning.

Hewlett-Packard is just one of the corporations funding Trumps $300M+ ballroom. The move comes after HPE successfully got a merger with Juniper Networks approved — a controversy that resulted in the ousting of DOJ antitrust staff who challenged it.

Now that the 2025 legislative session is over and Governor Gavin Newsom has signed his final bills for the year, here is an overview of our hard-fought wins, our plans deferred, and our hopes for the future. techequity.us/2025/10/28/r...

NEW: A @nbcnews.com review of proposed data centers found that in the majority of cases officials signed NDAs — with 5 officials admitting the NDAs prevented them from sharing information with constituents. “That violates a very fundamental norm of democracy," Pat Garofalo says.

REPORT: Billionaires and corporations donate to Trump's inauguration fund and the White House ballroom. Then, Trump makes the government work for them. We dove in to see exactly who is making these massive contributions, and what they got in return. perfectunion.us/trumps-corpo...

Americans want an economy that puts people ahead of big corporations. "Anything that empowers... the everyday person, is going to be a very popular message... it has to be centered on the person and making their life better and easier," @gallego.senate.gov said at our 2025 Summit.

For The Economic Populist, @balancecraft.bsky.social has an analysis of the legal fallout from OpenAI's Sora 2 launch. "Lawmakers and judges should not give tech oligarchs yet another free pass to trample on the rights of others at their whims."

Trump has been "dangling new tariff-free access to the U.S. market for Argentine beef," the AWS outage took out half the internet last week, and more. Catch up on the latest in last week's Weekly Rewind in the Economic Populist 👇 economicpopulist.substack.com/p/weekly-rew...

The Writers Guild of America says it would oppose any potential merger between Paramount Skydance & Warner Bros. Discovery. “Merger after merger in the media industry has harmed workers, diminished competition and free speech, and wasted hundreds of billions..." the group said.

The Preventing Algorithmic Price Fixing Act (AB 325) is now law! But what exactly does that mean for everyday Californians? @leehepner.bsky.social, Senior Legal Counsel at @econliberties.bsky.social, breaks it down in this blog: economicpopulist.substack.com/p/california...

China’s move to restrict global access to rare earths and magnets could be cataclysmic — the one-year “pause” announced Sunday doesn’t remove the leverage.

It’s estimated that rent fixing algorithms cost tenants almost $4 billion nationwide in inflated rents in 2023. @governor.ny.gov's signing of S7882/A1417 puts a stop to this in New York — delivering a massive win for housing affordability in the state.

AB 325, a recently signed bill banning algorithmic price fixing in California, is a BIG DEAL. Don’t just take it from us — law firms across the country are putting out legal advisories, emphasizing the major impacts of this bill as it modernizes the state's antitrust laws.

Railroad giant Union Pacific is helping fund Trump's $250M ballroom. This comes as they seek a $72B merger w/ Norfolk Southern in a move that would further consolidate the freight shipping industry — harming workers, disrupting service, and raising costs.

Even with insurance, fertility treatments and IVF can be tens of thousands of dollars. Now, private equity is seeing a chance to profit. "If fertility clinics are already expensive, private equity’s increasing stake in the business may send prices further skyward."

Great thread. There’s a lot of confusion about the de minimis trade loophole being closed & related Customs rules. Especially after a story re. UPS trashing incoming packages & online misinfo that “paperwork backlogs” caused this, which is wrong. Here's what's actually going on:

Independent newspapers, often family businesses or locally owned, are disappearing as private investment firms take over the industry. "...the majority of remaining papers in the US will be even more heavily concentrated among larger hedge funds & private equity-backed groups."

"Just as the Constitution creates checks and balances in our government safeguarding against concentrated political control, anti-monopoly laws create checks against concentrations of economic power." ICYMI: Lina Khan, last week, speaking at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

“In March, the FTC removed some 300 posts related to AI, consumer protection, and the agency’s lawsuits against tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft." As Trump cozies up to Big Tech, guidance once warning about Big Tech’s power is quietly disappearing.

🛤️NEW: A $72 billion rail mega-merger could reshape freight shipping across the country — and not for the better. Our new brief breaks down the stakes of the proposed Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger for workers, safety, and the economy👇🧵

NEW: Rethink Trade’s @khetti.bsky.social breaks down China’s latest restrictions on rare earths supply chains in this week’s Weekly Rewind via @econliberties.bsky.social's Economic Populist. 📌 economicpopulist.substack.com/i/176442923/...

Read this! Not as an interesting, well-written story of a guy's awakening, but because its about actionable causes of our current political-economic-social crisis that unite most Americans in anger, which of course is foundational to organizing our way out of our current shit show!

Unions and workers are cheering on the signing of AB 692, a bill that bans employers' use of predatory debt agreements. "It doesn’t matter if you work in a hospital or play professional sports, no worker should have to pay an employer back if they leave a job."

“I used to think that the defining fight for our country was between the left and the right. Now, I am much more worried about the money at the top crushing everyone underneath.” Must-read from @bedoyausa.bsky.social on his path to becoming a populist — and how economic populism unites👇🧵

ICYMI: AB 692 was signed, banning employer-driven debt agreements, “stay-or-pay” contracts, and "TRAPs" in California! "It is patently absurd that it was ever legal for employers to require workers to pay a fee to leave their jobs." More from Lee Hepner in our statement👇

"I think I used to see things as left versus right. Now, I'm a lot more focused on how the money at the top affects everyone underneath." @bedoyausa.bsky.social joined @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social this morning to talk about his new piece, "How I Became a Populist," in @newrepublic.com.

I used to focus on left versus right. Now I’m much more worried about the money at the top. But while it might seem strange to say it, I think this is a hopeful way of looking at the world that opens the door to coalitions that seemed impossible before. My first for the @newrepublic.com:

ICYMI: California has signed AB 1167 — stopping monopoly utilities from making customers pay for their political lobbying. Great to see California take necessary steps to put a stop to this unethical activity that's causing utility bills to go up.

California just banned employers from forcing workers to pay a debt, fee, or penalty to leave their job. Bosses have increasingly been trapping workers with debts incurred in training and other exploitative fees. Now that's illegal in the nation's biggest state.

TRAPs are being BANNED in California following @CAgovernor's signing of AB 692! This monumental bill will ban employer-driven debt agreements — marking a major win for workers in the state!