It was great talking Paramount-WBD with @katiephang.bsky.social. This deal went from foregone conclusion to not inevitable to stoppable in just a few months--thanks to the workers and our amazing #BlockTheMerger who fight together. We're showing that people power can beat corporate power.

"These technologies are designed to estimate the highest price any given consumer is willing to pay at any given time." ICYMI: @leehepner.bsky.social testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on surveillance pricing👇

"At this point, four meatpacking companies control 85% of all beef processing. It's the most concentrated of all of the sectors." LISTEN: @rethinktrade.bsky.social's Lori Wallach joined @kera.org to discuss how industry concentration is driving record high beef costs

Working with @econliberties.bsky.social (AELP) and a coalition of advocates, The Worker Agency helped stall the $110 billion Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger - a deal insiders called done from the moment it was announced. It wasn't. www.theworkeragency.com/case-studies...

#BlockTheMerger — The Worker Agency

Working with the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) and a coalition of advocates, The Worker Agency helped stall the $110 billion Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger - a deal insiders call...

theworkeragency.com

Here's my full write-up on the @econliberties.bsky.social town halls we held in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta arm in arm with @wgawest.bsky.social @wgaeast.bsky.social, Future Film Coalition, @democracydefendersaction.org & others in the #BlocktheMerger coalition: newrepublic.com/article/2136...

There’s a Blue-Collar Hollywood—and the Paramount Merger Will Kill It

Hollywood isn’t all glamour. It’s thousands of line workers. And a Paramount takeover of Warner will make their lives even more precarious.

newrepublic.com

Thrilled to talk about my work for @us.theguardian.com on apartment junk fees and Greystar with folks at @econliberties.bsky.social economicpopulist.substack.com/p/the-rent-i...

The Rent Is Higher Than You Think

Corporate landlords found a new way to raise prices.

economicpopulist.substack.com

Why are healthcare costs eating up a third of your paycheck? Learn more about health care corporate consolidation from Emma Freer @econliberties.bsky.social: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiU...

Americans can't afford healthcare anymore #healthcare #affordability #shocking

Why are healthcare costs eating up a third of your paycheck?Learn more about health care corporate consolidation from Emma Freer of@economicliberties: https...

youtube.com

WATCH: @klobuchar.senate.gov questions Blanche over the DOJ's weak settlement with Ticketmaster. When asked if the WH had any involvement, Blanche is unable to give a clear answer: "We work at times closely with White House counsel [...] um I am sure that I I wasn't directly part of discussions..."

How corporate consolidation is driving up healthcare costs and what it will take to break up Big Medicine. Guest: Emma Freer @econliberties.bsky.social #CareTalk⚕️ Host: @laurapackard.com of @healthcarevoices.org #MSWMedia Share & follow! Listen: redcircle.com/shows/care-t...

"Thousands of us have already lost our jobs." "I cannot afford my health insurance because I have no work." Opportunities across the entertainment industry are disappearing. More media consolidation will only make this worse. State attorneys general must block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.

The Paramount-WBD merger can be stopped! Challenging this merger means standing up for small businesses, workers, and consumers that will be hurt — and have been hurt — by even more consolidation. Here's what some of those with the most to lose have had to say:

Reuters@reuters.com · 4w ago

US states could sue next week to block Paramount-Warner Bros deal, sources say reut.rs/4wCJfOi

It's time to ban NDAs in data center deals.

More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 4w ago

In a hearing where residents grilled officials on data centers, a resident of Tyrone Township, Michigan, asked a simple question: Have you signed an NDA with any party regarding developments that could affect the town? The majority of the township's officials refused to answer.

Youth sports shouldn't be exclusive to the ultra-wealthy— but now, thanks to private equity, an activity once considered an affordable pastime has become a luxury. "The participation gap between poorer and wealthier households is widening as parents struggle to make ends meet."

"'Marie Antoinette would feel very comfortable on any of the Big 3 airlines these days,' said William J. McGee, Senior Fellow @econliberties.bsky.social. 'But instead of saying, "Let them eat cake" in the back of the plane, she would say, "Let them eat Biscoffs."'" apnews.com/article/airl...

US airlines are redesigning travel around their highest-paying passengers

America’s biggest airlines are expanding their premium cabins and adding more luxury perks to attract high-paying passengers.

apnews.com

Large egg producers made billions by artificially inflating prices, but the Trump DOJ wants to let them off the hook with a $3.3M fine. After years of paying sky-high prices, Americans deserve answers from both the egg CEOs and DOJ leadership. Congress must hold a hearing.

WATCH: @rethinktrade.bsky.social's @wallachlori.bsky.social is joining Unlearning Economics live on Youtube to talk tariffs! Tune in here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bodl...

Whatever Happened to Tariffs? with Lori Wallach

YouTube video by Unlearning Economics

youtube.com

"Private equity has started to move in very aggressively into the veterinarian space. What often happens is everyone from the customers to the employees gets the short end of the stick." ICYMI: @helaineolen.bsky.social dives into the private equity takeover of pet clinics on @pbsnews.org 👇

1/ "What are you hopeful about?" "Can you give me hope?" I get asked this a lot. For me, hope doesn't show up with a "HOPE" t-shirt and a blowhorn. It shows up in little moments. Here are some of those moments from a talk between Lance, an Iowa farmer, and Kirby, an Emmy-winning filmmaker.

It was a packed house for our Break Up Big Medicine convening in DC! Couldn't come in person? Watch the full event here on our Youtube: youtube.com/watch?v=sbzS...

Media mergers mean people lose their jobs, productions get cancelled, and stories go untold. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Christalyn Hampton: "My documentaries about social justice, there's no place for those. The mandates in a lot of these industries are true crime, cults, and celebrities."

We're on Instagram! Keep up with highlights from our events, our latest papers, breaking news, and more @/econliberties. Follow us here: www.instagram.com/econliberties/

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

instagram.com

This Merger will not help anyone – except those already at the top. Even if you don't work in Entertainment, this will affect the shows you watch and the information you consume. Monopolies never help Blue Collar Americans. #foryou #fyp #journalism #entertainment #hollywood

“That is so disturbing. And I’m so angry I didn’t know this.” Sen. @booker.senate.gov finds out in real-time that Paramount’s takeover of WBD would move half of the country’s TV news archive into the editorial control of one family.

I had a chance to speak at the recent @econliberties.bsky.social Town Hall on the debt implications of this deal. youtube.com/shorts/d7DPi...

"This is not just a bad deal for jobs, it is a bad deal for Paramount."

YouTube video by Economic Liberties

youtube.com

Pete Johnson@itstv.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A reminder that the case for this merger is based on bad assumptions: - Realizing $6B in synergies in ~1 year (AT&T + WBD took 3+ yrs to underachieve promises) - Selling billions of dollars in assets - Linear TV biz does not decline - No macro disruptions Any slight miss exacerbates PSKY debt prob

Paramount calls real people’s experiences of past mergers and a lived understanding of how our business works “fear-mongering”. What it actually is? Reality. Nobody knows better than those of us who have been doing it for our lifetimes and livelihoods. Corporate lawyers lie and spin #blockthemerger

Alvaro M. Bedoya@bedoyausa.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is Matt Radecki. He did post-production on some of the best documentaries of the last 15 years: Icarus, 20 Feet from Stardom, Navalny. Guess who bought Navalny? CNN. You think CNN is going to buy the next Navalny if Bari Weiss is in charge?

The billionaires behind the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger want you to think it's a done deal. But it's not. "Like all good billionaires, they want what they do to seem inevitable [...] The reality is this thing will be challenged," @bedoyausa.bsky.social says

"Paramount owns Nickelodeon. Warner Bros. owns Cartoon Network. Those two sharing a roof, what's that going to look like for animators?" If Paramount and Warner Bros. merge, animators will continue to see opportunities disappear. It's time to #BlockTheMerger

Happy to assist USA Today on this insightful piece about finding cheaper airfares. www.usatoday.com/story/travel...

I booked my flight – then the fare dropped by hundreds of dollars

Even airline experts struggle to predict ticket prices. Here’s how travelers can improve their odds of finding a deal.

usatoday.com

"The fix is not complicated, nor is it radical It's restoring fairness and accountability so that our economy works for everyone —not just the most powerful corporations." — ESCA’s teriolle.bsky.social on the COMPETE Act ✍🏼 @sfchronicle.com 🔗 www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

Screenwriter and WGA member on how fewer buyers in the market impact what stories get written: "You have to censor your ideas to be more mainstream or broad."