About
The mission of the Resilient World Systems program at Open Markets is to develop and advocate for policies that ensure the security, independence, and prosperity of the people of the United States and of all peoples around the world. It is based on the belief that the stability of the world’s industrial, financial, communications, and political systems requires careful coordinated management by national governments.
Over the last generation, the United States and its allies allowed super-large corporations and mercantilist nations to concentrate power and control within these systems in ways that have created many grave economic and political dangers. One result is that many of these systems are now subject to cascading and potentially catastrophic crashes and severe shortages even of vital goods such as foods and medical supplies. A second result is a breakdown of international cooperation and a growing number of cross-border industrial conflicts. Other results include the manipulation of vital news and information, the disruption of democratic debate, and the choking off of climate-friendly technological innovations.
Open Markets is recognized around the world as a pioneer in the study and design of resilient and open international systems. Over the years, our work has deeply shaped thinking among officials in the United States, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as in the IMF and World Bank. Our new partnership with the OECD resulted in the important transatlantic conference Shock Proof to discuss the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Publications
Open Markets' Europe director, Max von Thun, and industrial policy program manager, Audrey Stienon, discuss in Competition Policy International's TechREG Chronicle how AI policy narratives framed around the goal of "winning" a global race threaten to undermine the democratic values that this technology is supposed to help defend. Instead, von Thun and Stienon present a vision for an industrial strategy for AI centered on democratic governance as a means of protecting the public interest.
Transportation analyst Arnav Rao argues that repeated global supply chain shocks now intensified by maritime disruptions expose the failure of U.S. policy to balance efficiency with resilience, underscoring the need for long-term public investment and antimonopoly industrial strategy in shipbuilding.
In this issue, we explore the sobering lessons of the last big railroad merger to evaluate the proposal to merge Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern.
The Open Markets Institute alongside Community Change/Action, National Women’s Law Center, and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund released The Children Before Profits State Playbook, which equips state and local organizers, advocates, and policymakers with practical tools to address the risks posed by the growing role of private equity in U.S. child care markets.
The Children Before Profits State Playbook is a joint project of Community Change, National Women’s Law Center, Open Markets Institute, and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. It equips state and local organizers, advocates, and policymakers with practical tools to address the risks posed by the growing role of private equity in U.S. child care markets.
Open Markets Institute, alongside partner organisations Article 19, the Balanced Economy Project and SOMO, made a detailed submission to the European Commission urging officials to open an in-depth investigation into Google’s proposed acquisition of the cloud security firm Wiz.
The Open Markets Institute released a report on China’s global dominance in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and how the U.S. can and must correct its dependency problem.
Industrial Policy Program Manager Audrey Stienon writes that Europe’s landmark Green Deal is being weakened under pressure from Trump’s tariff threats and rising far-right influence, jeopardizing the EU’s climate ambitions and democratic sovereignty.
In this issue, we take a closer look at whether Trump tariff policies are the only reason Europe might moderate a key carbon pricing mechanism, which lies at the heart of its climate change policy.
In this issue, we explore how a deal by shipping giant MSC and BlackRock to buy dozens of port terminals from a Hong Kong-based operator will concentrate international trade in the hands of a single foreign corporation and threaten national security, despite the U.S. asset manager’s involvement.