Whatever happens, this is a deeply shameful episode in American history that will leave a permanent stain on the country. Repeatedly vowing to commit war crimes against millions of innocent civilians is beyond the pale.
Susan Holmberg
@susanrholmberg.bsky.social
Proudly from Minnesota. Writer, Comms, looking for patterns in the economy. Associate Director for Research @ILSR. Former @rooseveltinstitute.org @PERIatUMass. PhD, UMass Econ.
It's Trans Day of Visibility today. If you're trans and are raising money for something (I don't care what it is), reply to this thread and I will boost you. If you are a cis person, take a look and find someone to support if you can. Everyone give this a share after.
Interested in algorithmic pricing? Don't miss this conversation on March 3. How powerful corporations — including Amazon, Instacart, and major landlords — are using pricing algorithms to inflate prices and undermine competition. Great panel! Register here: ilsr.org/article/inde...
If it’s a tax on them, elites make it sound like a tax on you. If it’s a tax on you, they make you wonder if it’s a tax at all. When you understand that, you can see how the news media actually created conditions in which some middle-class Americans unknowingly voted for their own immiseration.
The Editorial Board@editorialboard.bsky.social · 6mo ago
I live in Minneapolis, and witnessing the ways local businesses are boldly and creatively stepping up to meet community needs as large corporations offer mild statements or facilitate ICE reminds me why antimonopoly policy is central to a healthy democracy. foodandpower.substack.com/p/wall-stree...
Wall Street Doesn’t Reward Resilience, Main Street Does
Minnesota shows how small businesses can support their communities through crisis while large corporations make measured statements, or worse, cooperate with authoritarian overreach.
foodandpower.substack.com
🚨 The political economy of finance summer school is back, 3rd year running! Better still: We're bringing it to London via @lse-ei.bsky.social. 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜: Finance & democracy 𝙳̲̲𝚊̲̲𝚝̲̲𝚎̲: 4-5 June 2026 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦: March 1. Link below. We've got brilliant instructors as usual. Please spread the word!
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
Reports from outside Minneapolis are that ICE is pulling people over on the freeway, leaving cars abandoned. They have been seen in towns throughout the Twin City exurbs. If you are feeling moved to help families in MN, this is verified. www.gofundme.com/f/support-so...
Donate to Support Twin Cities families in Crisis: Metro Surge, organized by Southwest Alliance
Our neighbors all over the Twin Cities Metro have now been end… Southwest Alliance needs your support for Support Twin Cities families in Crisis: Metro Surge
gofundme.com
@ronmknox.bsky.social has a must read end-of-year piece. Working Americans are raging against corporate power, which is coalescing into an antimonopoly movement. This should be the Democratic party's lodestar. (Also, no one does antimonopoly storytelling better.) www.thenation.com/article/acti...
Anger at Corporate Power Is Everywhere
It should guide the Democrats.
thenation.com
Months ago, we filed to get the FTC complaint against Pepsi unsealed. Last week, the judge ruled in our favor. It's damning, implicating Walmart. @ilsr.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Pepsi Gave Walmart Special Discounts, Biden-Era FTC Alleged
PepsiCo Inc. offers Walmart Inc. special product promotions and discounts that it doesn’t offer to any other retailers, according to a Biden-era antitrust complaint that was unsealed by a court.
bloomberg.com
good LORD. like some turducken of neoliberal nightmares
David Dayen@ddayen.bsky.social · 8mo agoA for-profit education firm called Stride is opening a school inside a for-profit immigration prison run by CoreCivic. Stride has been accused of defrauding investors and providing substandard education to children. @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social spotted the job listings: prospect.org/2025/12/10/f...
Check out our latest investigation. Public buying on Amazon has ballooned and governments are facing higher costs and less transparency. This is pushing out independent suppliers that feed local tax bases — at a time when local budgets are bleeding dry. There's a better way. ⬇️
Stacy Mitchell@stacyfmitchell.bsky.social · 8mo ago1. Amazon has become a major force in how cities, counties & schools buy basic supplies. Our new report finds Amazon is using opaque pricing algorithms to drive up costs and eliminate transparency—while harming competition by pushing out better-performing independent suppliers.
More power for workers. Protections for small businesses. Freedom from slumlords. With Lina Khan by his side, Zohran Mamdani is the vanguard of the modern antimonopoly movement.
Mamdani and the Antimonopoly Movement
In policies and promise, Zohran Mamdani has become antimonopoly's flag bearer
whoshallrule.com
The imperial presidency wasn’t built in a term - my latest Comment, denounce, retweet! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/o...
Opinion | Resistance to Trump Isn’t Enough
nytimes.com
Ron is an exceptional storyteller of resistance and analyst of corporate abuses. This substack is going to be good.
Ron Knox@ronmknox.bsky.social · 10mo agoHello. Today, I'm launching Who Shall Rule, where I'll tell stories and share thoughts about frontline fights against corporate control - fights that reflect an emerging political movement to break free from the abuse of corporate oligarchy. Welcome! Subscribe! www.whoshallrule.com/p/who-shall-...
There's an antimonopoly movement afoot, happening at the local level. prospect.org/economy/2025...
The Shifting Anti-Monopoly Landscape
Fights over data centers and music venues show that resisting corporate power will have to go local in the age of Trump.
prospect.org
Dr Lisa Cook is a fantastic economist and person, and the attacks lobbed against her are absolutely egregious. Sharing the letter in support of her below. #Econsky
Tatyana Deryugina@tderyugina.bsky.social · 11mo agoOver 125 economists signed the open letter calling on the President, Congress, and the American public to uphold the principles of Federal Reserve independence and not remove Lisa Cook without due process. There's still time to sign! And please share. #EconSky docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Standing up for workers. Treating everyone with dignity and respect. Working as hard as possible for the people of Ohio. I've tried to live my life by those principles. But these days that's not what's happening in Washington—so I'm running for Senate.
A great time to re-up this article -- How to Break Up with Amazon: ilsr.org/articles/its... @ilsr.bsky.social @kennedysmith.bsky.social
It's Time to Break Up with Amazon. Here's How. - Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Shop Local, Amazon Alternatives
ilsr.org
Public Citizen@publiccitizen.bsky.social · last yr.A friendly Prime Day reminder that there are over 7 ongoing investigations into Amazon's illegal practices and worker safety violations. Jeff Bezos is worth over $236 billion and yet can’t bring himself to protect his employees or pay them a livable wage.
"It’s easy to think of food deserts as a natural consequence of poverty. But...the real reason food deserts emerged...is because of a major shift in one federal policy." The 99% Percent Invisible podcast has a great new episode on the hidden history of the Robinson-Patman Act.
Food Deserts - 99% Invisible
Woonsocket, Rhode Island was once home to many locally owned and regional grocers. There were small stores such as Fernandes Produce and Big D’s. The city also had supermarkets from classic New Englan...
99percentinvisible.org
Complaining about process is a way to sidestep having to take a stand and use your position to fight for a simple, obvious, and popular rule that would help Americans save money and avoid being taken advantage of.
Shoppers have fewer options for groceries after waves of supermarket mergers, and, writes Ron Knox, they get nickled and dimed at the stores that remain. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
As Federal Chaos Ensues, Trustbusters Rise in the States
With Trump’s antitrust appointees more concerned with scoring points in MAGA culture wars than restraining corporate abuses, officials in the states are keeping up the fight.
thenation.com
A beautiful tribute to the late founder of @ilsr.bsky.social. He profoundly shaped how to think about the intersection of place, power, and policy. ilsr.org/articles/rem...
A Letter from ILSR’s Co-Directors: Remembering David Morris - Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Visited 105 times, 105 visit(s) today
ilsr.org
State leadership on antitrust is not new. Our first trustbusting laws were incubated at the state-level. This tradition is being revived. New from @ronmknox.bsky.social
Ron Knox@ronmknox.bsky.social · last yr.Trump's "MAGA antitrust" enforcers seem more interested in unserious culture war grievances than enforcing the law. But don't worry: The states - our original trustbusters - are fighting for workers, shoppers and small businesses. New from me in @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/soci...
With many people talking about how Mamdani has embraced small businesses as a crucial & obvious part of a progressive coalition of working people, I wanted to re-up this piece from a few years ago: ilsr.org/articles/in-...
In The Nation, the Left Should Fight for Small Business - Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Stacy Mitchell and Susan R. Holmberg argue that the left should embrace small business again; it is crucial to reversing inequality and rescuing democracy.
ilsr.org
Zohran Kwame Mamdani@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · last yr.We’re outside City Hall to announce our new small business agenda: ✅ Cut fines & fees in half ✅ Speed up permitting ✅ Appoint a “Mom & Pop” czar ✅ Increase funding for 1:1 support Small business is the lifeblood of our city and we’re going to have their backs.
@ronmknox.bsky.social's new piece in Wash Monthly today, examining why the Trump FTC's decision to drop a landmark case against PepsiCo for price discrimination will be extremely bad for for community grocers and people who, you know, like to buy food. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/06/25/h...
Has Trump’s FTC abandoned fair markets? | Washington Monthly
Trump's FTC just killed a landmark antitrust case that could have leveled the playing field for small grocers.
washingtonmonthly.com
It is going to be another very stressful news day, so particularly if you are in Minnesota and reading this, please go eat something RIGHT NOW and drink a full glass of water - keep your strength and your mind healthy.