4/ In sellers' inflation, corporations don't absorb input cost shocks — they transmit them across the whole economy through their own price-setting, and then some. We documented this during Covid and the 2022 energy crisis. The same mechanism is now being activated again.

The industrial food system depends on synthetic fertilizers, fossil fuels, and volatile global supply chains, concentrated into the hands of just a few huge companies. Every crisis exposes how vulnerable this model really is. Read our statement: www.etcgroup.org/content/expe...

Interesting report here for readers in the UK on how to move away from our extractive economic model.

At the EU Tax Symposium and the US Treasury rep has said 'constructive dialogue' 10 times with no substance, besides 'no rushing to a solution' that the US will not adopt

New on Critical Takes! How public development banks can offer a more democratic alternative to private investment. Thomas Marois of @publicbanking.bsky.social talks about why these banks matter and how to ensure they're accountable to citizens. Listen here: criticaltakes.org/society-and-...

Good explanation of why higher taxes on wealth are an insufficient response to gross inequality. The institutions which concentrate wealth - corporations above all - need to be structurally reformed.

Just saw this strong report on corporate power and the right to food by UN rapporteur @michaelfakhri.bsky.social documents.un.org/doc/undoc/ge... "It is very difficult to curtail corporate power or hold corporations accountable unless corporations are changed from within." (p. 21) 1/4

Internationalism that works. Why negotiations for a UN tax treaty are going better than expected: criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof... And how the US cut a loophole in OECD tax reforms. criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof... For more on corporate power and how to curb it: criticaltakes.org/our-takes/

Undoing concentrated corporate power is vital for protecting and repairing the global supply of food.

Key point about oil prices here. Lots of people have assumed the AI investment bubble will burst at some point and sink the stock market. But the route might be indirect: high and rising energy costs could make data centres less viable, which makes Big Tech's huge investment in AI seem unviable.

The men who run billion-dollar hedge funds are supposed to be savvy risk-takers who know how the world really works. Yet apparently they can't read a map, don't read the papers or understand the vulnerability of water supplies in a desert. We'd do no worse handing the economy to stock-picking AI.

Some Sunday reading that won't make you feel grim: UN talks on new global tax rules are going unexpectedly well. criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof... There's food for thought here for other international campaigns.

New on Critical Takes: UN independent expert Attiya Waris explains why talks on a UN tax convention are going unexpectedly well. criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof... A recommended read for anyone in civil society whose work deals with the UN.

💻 The digital ag market is set to hit $84bn by 2034. But who benefits? @theguardian.com covers our #HeadInTheCloud report, warning that #BigTech's AI farming tools are consolidating control over seeds & inputs. Who decides what we grow: farmers or algorithms? www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Big Tech's lobbyists attack EU digital rules, and how corporate power shapes the way we talk about human rights. The new Critical Takes newsletter is out! criticaltakes.org/newsletters/

Huge sums of money, massive hype, opaque back-to-back deals and now accounting gaps, according to this. Sounds like the market crash gang's all here!

This week we look at Yoshua Bengio who cuts through the AI hype isn’t “innovation” - it’s concentrated power, investor pressure, and corner‑cutting on public safety. If we want real progress, we need to confront #monopoly power head‑on. https://substack.pulse.ly/kdwzz7jafd #AI #BigTech

Meta is trying to use Ireland as its trojan horse within the EU, from the sounds of it. (For more on Meta's dubious lobbying tactics in Brussels, see link in the post below)

A really useful update here on negotiations for a UN tax convention. Sounds as if delegates are getting into the fundamentals of how international corporate taxation works, and for whom. Also sounds as if big business lobbyists are resorting to ChatGPT to crank out dodgy spin reports ...

New on Critical Takes: How corporate power tries to shape the way we talk about business and human rights. Reflections from researcher and advocate Katherine McDonnell. Read here: criticaltakes.org/human-rights... WRT @business-humanrights.org @escrnet.bsky.social @asso-sherpa.bsky.social

Interesting take here on moving beyond capitalism. But I think democratising the corporation would mean more than just employee ownership and votes. It's also necessary to redefine the purposes of the company in law and widen its ownership still further. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

More detailed, highly informed analysis of the industry push for deregulation in the European Union. It's clear that this wave of corporate lobbying has nothing to do with being fit for the future. It's just giant incumbents trying to bolster their profit margins by offloading harms onto people.

How Big Tech lobbyists are trying to bend the EU's laws out of shape. An up-close view of corporate lobbying tactics in Brussels. Listen here: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

And we can just wonder will pay for the real life costs for society from the scandalous level of privileged access for dirty industries to the Commission. Watch our new video that explains: corporateeurope.org/en/2026/02/n...

With so much attention on the ill-doing of Big Tech, here's a first-hand account of how they try to get their way in Europe: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat... A good companion piece is this interview from last year about Davos, Musk's Nazi fetish and all that: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

US Big Tech companies, including Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap, have mounted a fierce campaign to block or water down measures to fight against specially-designed addictive algorithms for social media platforms, according to the report of @corporateeurope.org www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1952...

New! How Big Tech's lobbyists are working in Brussels to undermine European regulations. An in-depth account from Bram Vranken of @corporateeurope.org Recommended listening for anyone in civil society whose work concerns the EU. Listen here: criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

Good explainer of "digital farming" here. It looks like the usual promise that technology will make everything more efficient, masking the usual power grab by a handful of giant corporations.

From the "what" to the "how" of curbing corporate power. Three more areas for change which might attract worldwide support from civil society. And some other interesting stuff! Read here: criticaltakes.org/newsletters/...

Giving a plug to this eerie and compelling new film about the threat posed to food supply by corporate power and industrial farming. It uses a clever framing device, starkly beautiful images and snatches of interviews with experts to gradually build its case. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hehJ...

“Fossil fuel firms could be forced to pay some of the price of their climate damage, and the ultra-rich subjected to a global wealth tax, if new tax rules are agreed under the UN. Negotiations will resume on Monday, with dozens of countries supporting rules to make polluters pay"

New! Stock market crashes, Big Ag, the US vs tax reform. And alternatives to corporate power which could win support across civil society. The new Critical Takes newsletter is out! criticaltakes.org/newsletters/... To get the latest in a short monthly email: criticaltakes.org/newsletters/

The OECD's Pillar Two scheme is meant to make sure that multinationals pay at least 15 per cent in tax on their profits. This month, the US hacked a big loophole into it. What does it mean for corporate taxation? Listen here: criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof...

The original poster child for corporate tax avoidance is still at it, according to this new report from CICTAR.

“In 2024, the total installed electricity capacity of the planet—every coal, gas, hydro, & nuclear plant & all of the renewables—was about 10 terawatts. The Chinese solar supply chain can now pump out 1 TW of panels every year.” Fascinating piece on the Chinese solar industry’s troubled success.

have a few papers in review that examine this issue, and the reality is that ‘circular’ claims often camouflage a reliance on chemical recycling technologies that are toxic and unproven these claims should be understood as a strategy by corporate interests to distract and delay meaningful action

New on Critical Takes on Corporate Power: This month the US arm-twisted other countries into agreeing an opt-out for US corporations from the OECD's Pillar Two minimum tax rate. What does it mean for tax reform? @zorkamilin.bsky.social explains. Listen here: criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof...

Articles calling for industrial policy don't usually come with a set of lovingly detailed and informed footnotes about how the product is made. More of them should!

African elites, and foreign firms investing in Africa, increasingly favour offshore havens in Asia, according to this report. Notably, to nobody's surprise, Dubai.

A detailed and punchy report here about the urgent need to scale back and deconcentrate Big Finance.

US pharmaceutical companies demanded that the UK pay them more for drugs, because the terms weren't as profitable for them in as the EU. Now they're demanding that EU countries pay them more. There is a word for this. It's a nasty one that begins with "b".

"CES 2026 was the “year of robotics” in the same way that somebody is a sailor because they wore a captain’s hat while sitting in a cardboard box."

Interesting take on Ireland which says there are too many data centres for the power supply. "You can’t have a green transition that’s genuinely independent if it’s dictated by the needs of monopolistic tech companies."

More farming takes place in the South but more profits are captured in the North (and tax havens), this paper says.

Trump’s economic warfare presents us with an opportunity - let’s take back control from the Big Tech monopolists. Brilliant by Cory Doctorow 👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why do a handful of global firms dominate farming and what can we do about it? Critical Takes talks to @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social about the problem of Big Agriculture, the spread of "digital farming" and why we need a new model for growing our food. Listen here: criticaltakes.org/society-and-...

Let's stand together to fight corporate power in 2026! Wish you all peace, love and inspiration. In solidarity, The team at Corporate Europe Observatory

The US has won its war on minimum taxes for profit-shifting MNCs, backed by the G7 - including the UK. How much revenue will the UK lose? @hmtreasury refuses to release its estimate. We estimate countries may forego ~$40bn annually (~$6bn from just 6 US tech giants) taxwatchuk.org/a-blank-cheq...

Our new project visualises extractive capitalism in the Caribbean. Slavery & colonialism aren’t things that happened far away & long ago. We continue to live with their consequences. 🧵 Here’s how empire shapes Barbados, Britain & the world. visualising-extractive-capitalism.common-wealth.org

OECD countries, including EU countries & the UK, just forfeited to Trump their sovereign right to tax businesses operating within their own borders. This is an alarming subjugation of state sovereignty – and yet it is being spun as a landmark tax deal. taxjustice.net/press/oecd-c...