Barry Lynn Responds to The Atlantic: Anti-Monopoly Is America’s System of Liberty

In May, the Atlantic published a 5,000-word article by Jonathan Chait on the work of Open Markets and our allies, titled “The Antitrust Theory of Everything.”

As we wrote at the time, all of us at the Open Markets Institute were delighted by the Atlantic’s recognition of our influence on the US political debate about how to address dangerous concentrations of private and public power, in the age of AI, tech oligarchy, and the corruption of economic regulation by the Trump Administration.

We strongly welcome debate over our reporting, analysis, and policy recommendations. Unfortunately, Mr. Chait in his article mischaracterized and misrepresented much of our work and that of the broader pro-democracy movement. He also left out numerous facts essential to understanding what Open Markets actually does and why, as well as the broader importance of our work and its impact on political and economic debate around the world.

In early June, we sent a Letter to Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg pointing out just a few of Mr. Chait’s bigger omissions and mistakes. The Atlantic, however, declined to publish it. For the benefit of Atlantic readers, below is a copy of our letter.