Publications
Food & Power Reporter Claire Kelloway reports on an investigation into an allegation that agribusiness giants Bayer, Corteva, BASF, Cargill, and others tried to crush an online ag retailing startup, the California-based Farmers Business Network (FBN). The allegation represents an abuse of market power by leading agribusinesses to maintain control over seed and agrichemical markets in an era of retail disruption.
Read MoreOn February 2, 2020, the Open Markets Institute filed an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court in the State of Montana urging the Montana Supreme Court to hold all non-competes to be unenforceable.
Read MoreSilicon Valley's “if you can’t beat ’em, buy ’em” approach comes under federal scrutiny. Some antitrust experts say better late than never.
Read MoreThe Open Markets Institute warmly congratulates the American Economic Liberties Project – headed by Sarah Miller, previously the deputy director of the Open Markets Institute – on its launch today.
Read More"Judge Victor Marrero’s ruling allowing T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint further concentrates the national wireless market and empowers all corporations seeking dominance through mergers and acquisitions," said Open Markets Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan in a statement today.
Read MoreWelcome to The Corner. In this issue, we present our views on how the courts, the Justice Department, and the FTC are failing to use antitrust law to protect workers from employers who have monopolies in labor markets.
Read MoreMedium editor Steve LeVine quotes Open Markets legal director, Sandeep Vaheesan, in a piece about the FTC suing to stop a big razor company merger.
Read MoreFour cases from the past decade alleging employer collusion against workers show that at present, antitrust law is ill-equipped to protect workers. A root cause is the prevailing philosophy of antitrust today, which focuses on consumer welfare and relies on a narrow interpretation of the law and its history.
Read MorePersonalized pricing was a popular topic at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York City this month, reports Food & Power Reporter Claire Kelloway. Grocery stores can leverage a combination of data analytics and customer identification and tracking tools to offer real-time individual pricing and promotions, both online and in-store. While the practice may still be in its infancy, some experts believe that personalized prices will become the standard in food retail and beyond.
Read MoreOpen Markets Policy Director Phil Longman presented a groundbreaking plan to reform health care prices, in the cover story for the current issue of the Washington Monthly. Longman proposed a system that we’re calling Medicare Prices for All. The basic idea is simple: Have the federal government mandate that the prices Medicare pays for health care apply to all health care plans.
Read MoreWelcome to The Corner. In this issue, we talk about our plan for a health care reform that would lower health care prices without raising taxes or forcing people to change health plans.
Read MoreOpen Markets Policy Director Phil Longman commented to the Miami Herald on hospital chains and insurers in South Florida and whether growing consolidation is good for patients. “Sometimes, through consolidation, you get real economies of scale: better coordination, integration of care,” Longman said. “But experience has shown that whatever cost savings result are generally not shared with consumers.”
Read More"We congratulate Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on her court victory against Facebook, which had refused to provide evidence demanded in her office’s subpoena," said Open Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard today in a statement.
Read More"We strongly support the entrepreneurs and independent businesses who are standing up to challenge the dominance of Facebook, Amazon, and Google over America’s markets," said Open Markets Executive Director Barry Lynn in a statement today.
Read MoreSally Hubbard spoke to The Washington Post about how it’s important for CEOs from the biggest tech firms to testify before Congress amid the big tech probe taking place by the House Antitrust Subcommittee. "I think it's important for the CEOs to appear in a public hearing to make clear they are accountable to our democratically-elected representatives and to the American public," she said.
Read MoreClaire Kelloway reports that the USDA thwarted a decade of efforts to help farmers seek justice for discrimination, retaliation, and unfair treatment by meatpackers. Trump’s USDA introduced new criteria to determine whether a meatpacker violated the Packers and Stockyards Act. This latest proposal omits several critical farmer protections from the previous rule and introduces new language that could codify abusive industry practices.
Read MoreOpen Markets Director of Enforcement Strategy Sally Hubbard spoke to The Washington Post about why smaller technology companies have not been more outspoken regarding the anti-competitive practices of larger technology companies ahead of a House Antitrust Subcommittee field hearing taking place in Colorado where smaller tech firm leaders will have an opportunity to testify. “We don’t often hear from those entrepreneurs because they can't afford to speak out, we haven’t had a look under the hood of these companies,” Hubbard said.
Read MoreThe Open Markets Institute is proud to announce the addition of two new members to its board of directors, Christy Hoffman and Laura Quinn, who will help lead the organization in the fight to protect democracy in America and around the world from dangerous concentrations of power and control.
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