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A Walmart building.

War in the Aisles

Monopolies across the grocery supply chain squeeze consumers and small-business owners alike. Big Data will only entrench those dynamics further.
by Jarod Facundo via The American Prospect on June 12, 2024
Woodrow Wilson working at his desk on May 1, 1917.

Don’t Be So Quick to Laud Woodrow Wilson

An effort is underway to restore President Wilson’s reputation as a great reformer. His best reforms were won by a mass movement, often pushing against Wilson.
by Henry Snow via Jacobin on March 14, 2024
Capital Hill at night.
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Government Shutdowns Were Never Necessary Anyway

Government shutdowns only became possible in 1980, when the Attorney General offered a new interpretation of an 1870 law.
by M. A. Davis via Made By History on November 16, 2023
A building with Amazon's logo
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How Public Opinion May Decide the FTC Amazon Antitrust Suit

In the 1920s, electricity monopolies survived an antitrust investigation because they had won over the public.
by Daniel Robert via Made By History on October 24, 2023
House Speaker Thomas O'Neill Jr. talking to President Ronald Reagan

Which President Had The Most Shutdowns? Reagan, With An Asterisk

There were more government shutdowns under Ronald Reagan than under every president since, combined. But some were as short as a few hours.
by Gillian Brockell via Washington Post on September 23, 2023
Food with prices in store window display
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The FTC May Crack Down on Price Discrimination. Will It Matter?

The Robinson-Patman Act was supposed to prevent price discrimination — but consumers wanted cheap goods.
by Marc Levinson via Made By History on May 23, 2023
A boarded-up food center.

The Great Grocery Squeeze

How a federal policy change in the 1980s created the modern food desert.
by Stacy Mitchell via The Atlantic on December 1, 2024
Black and white photo of Charles B. Warren from 1924.

The Last Time the Senate Rejected a President's Cabinet Nominee of the Same Party

It hasn't happened for 100 years.
by Simmone Shah via TIME on November 21, 2024
The recycling symbol.

How the Recycling Symbol Got America Addicted to Plastic

Corporations sold Americans on the chasing arrows — while stripping the logo of its worth.
by Kate Yoder via Grist on June 12, 2024
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 presidential inauguration.

The First New Deal

Planning, market coordination, and the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933.
by Sanjukta Paul via Phenomenal World on March 28, 2024
Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) tries unsuccessfully to hail a taxi as cabbies stage a rolling protest against app-based ride-hailing services.

Uber and the Impoverished Public Expectations of the 2010s

A new book shows that Uber was a symbol of a neoliberal philosophy that neglected public funding and regulation in favor of rule by private corporations.
by Sandeep Vaheesan via The American Prospect on January 16, 2024
President Theodore Roosevelt raising his hat to wave.

The Curse of Bigness

Until more Americans know what happened in periods such as the Gilded Age, they can’t protect themselves from those who abuse history to advance poor policy.
by Amity Shlaes via National Review on July 10, 2023
Painting of Milwaukee

Milwaukee Socialists' Triumph & Global Impact

On April 5, 1910, the world was stunned by socialists’ victory at the ballot box in Milwaukee.
by Shelton Stromquist via Public Books on April 5, 2023
Photo of E.P.A Headquarters, shot through a bush

How Government Ends

Through an assault on administrative agencies, the Supreme Court is systematically eroding the legal basis of effective governance.
by Lisa Heinzerling via Boston Review on September 28, 2022
Reprint from the September 1966 issue of AFL-CIO American Federationist, Box 38, Folder 4, William Page Keeton Papers, Special Collections, Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin.

Controlled Prices

Before the rise of macroeconomics that accompanied World War II, price determination was a central problem of economic thought.
by Andrew Yamakawa Elrod via Phenomenal World on January 12, 2022
Pills in a week organizer.
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Drug Companies Keep Merging. Why That’s Bad For Consumers and Innovation.

Over 30 years, dramatic consolidation has meant higher prices, fewer treatment options and less incentive to innovate.
by Robin Feldman via Made By History on April 6, 2021

How War Made the Cigarette

A new book explores the tangled politics behind a global addiction.
by Scott Wasserman Stern via The New Republic on September 25, 2019
President Kennedy hands Senator Estes Kefauver the pen he used to sign a bill.

The Greatest Show of Them All

How a New Deal senator’s anti-monopoly investigations changed American business.
by Jill Priluck via Lapham’s Quarterly on April 8, 2019
"The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" book cover

Thieves of Experience: How Google and Facebook Corrupted Capitalism

By reengineering the economy and society to their own benefit, Google and Facebook are undermining personal freedom and corroding democracy.
by Nicholas Carr via Los Angeles Review of Books on January 15, 2019

Unchecked Power

How monopolies have flourished—and undermined democracy.
by Ganesh Sitaraman via The New Republic on November 29, 2018
Credit score graph and a stack of coins.
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The Equifax Breach Has Potentially Catastrophic Consequences

Credit reporting companies' immense power and lack of transparency puts consumers at risk.
by Sarah E. Igo via Made By History on September 26, 2017

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