There's an antimonopoly movement afoot, happening at the local level. prospect.org/economy/2025...

Dr Lisa Cook is a fantastic economist and person, and the attacks lobbed against her are absolutely egregious. Sharing the letter in support of her below. #Econsky

Standing up for workers. Treating everyone with dignity and respect. Working as hard as possible for the people of Ohio. I've tried to live my life by those principles. But these days that's not what's happening in Washington—so I'm running for Senate.

A great time to re-up this article -- How to Break Up with Amazon: ilsr.org/articles/its... @ilsr.bsky.social @kennedysmith.bsky.social

"It’s easy to think of food deserts as a natural consequence of poverty. But...the real reason food deserts emerged...is because of a major shift in one federal policy." The 99% Percent Invisible podcast has a great new episode on the hidden history of the Robinson-Patman Act.

Complaining about process is a way to sidestep having to take a stand and use your position to fight for a simple, obvious, and popular rule that would help Americans save money and avoid being taken advantage of.

Shoppers have fewer options for groceries after waves of supermarket mergers, and, writes Ron Knox, they get nickled and dimed at the stores that remain. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

A beautiful tribute to the late founder of @ilsr.bsky.social. He profoundly shaped how to think about the intersection of place, power, and policy. ilsr.org/articles/rem...

State leadership on antitrust is not new. Our first trustbusting laws were incubated at the state-level. This tradition is being revived. New from @ronmknox.bsky.social

With many people talking about how Mamdani has embraced small businesses as a crucial & obvious part of a progressive coalition of working people, I wanted to re-up this piece from a few years ago: ilsr.org/articles/in-...

@ronmknox.bsky.social's new piece in Wash Monthly today, examining why the Trump FTC's decision to drop a landmark case against PepsiCo for price discrimination will be extremely bad for for community grocers and people who, you know, like to buy food. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/06/25/h...

It is going to be another very stressful news day, so particularly if you are in Minnesota and reading this, please go eat something RIGHT NOW and drink a full glass of water - keep your strength and your mind healthy.

Downtown Saint Paul is an excellent location for the city's first municipal owned grocery store. ilsr.org/articles/com...

We have to do what every other successful effort to confront authoritarianism, both in our past and in the present abroad, has done: organize sustained civil resistance. Imagine if, in lieu of bus boycott, civil rights leaders had waited on Dems? Or ACT-Up folks not done die-ins & broke into NYSE?

Four newspapers in rural, northwest Minnesota announced they'll be sending their final papers out this week. I thought the founder's reason for the closure was interesting: www.grandforksherald.com/news/minneso...

The FTC just voted 3-0 to drop this case — that's effectively an endorsement of the predatory tactics Walmart uses to crush local grocery sores, create food deserts, and drive up prices. This will hit working-class, rural, and Black communities hardest.

omg thank you Claire! If, ahem, you'd like to pick one up, you can do that here! microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zine...

Resist. Refuse. Ridicule. This fascist regime requires our capitulation to enact their agenda.

ILSR is hiring! We're looking for a terrific Operations Associate to help make this workplace hum: vist.ly/3n3bvt6

1. My colleague Ron Knox just published a killer guide to resisting monopolies. It shows that fighting monopoly power isn't just a job for the government — it's something regular people can do every day in their communities and workplaces.

Great thread about a great new zine! "There are folks out there taking the fight to corporate oligarchs..and winning."

Let's wake up. He's REALLY unpopular for this early in a term or really ever. President's this unpopular are already losing. Power becomes harder to assert when your power is fading.

I take seriously my duty to protect hardworking Arizonans against abuses of corporate power. Thanks for the shout out, @ronmknox.bsky.social and @ilsr.bsky.social. Listen to the full episode here: ilsr.org/articles/blp... youtube.com/shorts/qF84I...

📢 ILSR is hiring! 📢 We’re looking for an Operations Associate to help manage day-to-day organizational functions and support a productive, efficient work environment. This is a full-time, remote, union position with excellent benefits. Apply now ⬇️

This is a great listen! And energizing in these times.

"Democratic leaders like my former boss are increasingly alienating young voters and progressives alike due to ideological rigidity, inadequate policy responses, and a failure to address the evolving socio-political landscape."

90 percent. They sent innocent people to a gulag so Trump could look like a tough guy. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Many economists advocate free trade. But, does it even work? Today in the Sling. Mark Glick and Gabriel Lozada discuss the failed assumptions of free trade. Check it out! #Econtwitter #Antitrust #tariffs www.thesling.org/the-failed-a...

Led by @ronmknox.bsky.social, ILSR has a new suite of resources on how states can flex their antitrust muscle. Check it out!

Love the energy of this blackout, and if more of us can learn to live without Amazon that's super cool. But getting Amazon to change it's behavior is a lost cause. We need the right regulatory guardrails in place so they can't get away with the shit they've pulled. www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/b...

Ahem ... Is this on? Yesterday our crew at @TPM launched our annual March membership drive. If you're not a member, I hope you'll consider joining. The link is right here. I wanted to take a moment to give you what I hope are good reasons to join. talkingpointsmemo.com/memberships?...

Great 15 minutes on why the decline of small business is a a big problem and how the revival of a key antitrust law could make all the difference. Full conversation here: youtu.be/pi2vnhD0ZCU?...

This and this and more of this.

This is a very worthwhile watch. the.ink/p/watch-an-a... @anatosaurus.bsky.social @anandwrites.bsky.social

Sick day for me today gang, but read this great piece from Bob Kuttner responding to Jason Furman's hatchet job on Bidenomics: prospect.org/economy/2025...

1/ Dear everyone who just went grocery shopping and saw this, There’s a person in government who could flick his pen and investigate what the hell is going on with eggs. No, not your congressman. His name is Andrew Ferguson. He’s the new head of the @FTC. Has he done that? No

Must read by @nhegde.bsky.social. "Democrats need to make a decision. They can either continue their decades-long accommodation of billionaires and corporate interests or embrace a genuine populist agenda that directly challenges concentrated economic power." democracyjournal.org/arguments/an...

#ElonInTheOval should be trending.

I'm eager to read this.

This energy.

This is happening all over the country.

Thinking about historical parallels. People talk about coups and autogolpes, the fascist seizure of power in the 1930s, and there are resemblances. But there are other models we could think about.

People are getting up off the mat.

Worthwhile read. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...

On Lina Khan's last day at the FTC, the thing I'm most grateful for is that she threw open the doors of this agency to people—through Open Commission Meetings where anyone could speak, inviting public comments & traveling to ranches, drugstores, town halls & more. Hats off.

If you are interested: I answered a lot of basic questions about tariffs -- what they are, how they work, and are they likely to happen, err, tomorrow -- in this interview with my local NPR affiliate! thepublicsradio.org/economy/if-t...

“The notion of being a nation of small businesses and farmers and people who control their own destiny when it comes to the economy is very much aligned with the idea that we’re a country where we control our own political destiny.”

"eliminating civil rights reforms" is much better phrasing than "removing DEI" "DEI" was hijacked from academia and half-assed corporate inclusivity efforts to frame civil rights reforms as elitist and wasteful. adopting their framing and rhetoric helps pretend bigotry is efficient.

“But of course that’s part of the point of all the boasting and big talk. Don’t fall for it. Don’t be cowed. Don’t be demoralized. Trump and Trumpism aren’t as strong as they look. In fact, it could well be all downhill from noon today for Trump and Trumpism.” @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social