Anti-Monopoly

After a long 4th of July weekend, we figure this a good time to take a look back at the important work we’ve fired off over the last month or so. From analyses of Trump’s executive tenure to a take-down of a Big Oil myth pushed by compromised Democrats, here’s another edition of an RDP Work Roundup for you to digest along with your leftovers from holiday barbecues.

In late May, Brian Deese, the former director of President Biden’s National Economic Council and current MIT fellow, wrote about “The Next Front in the War Against Climate Change” for The Atlantic. Deese explained that while the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives have stimulated clean energy demand “beyond my wildest hopes,” he still finds himself “lying awake at night, worried that America could still fail to meet its climate goals.” 

As we head into Memorial Day Weekend, we’re taking some time to review recent work at Revolving Door Project—boosting pieces we want to make sure readers here see, and staying focused on priority areas for our team. Here’s hoping the extra time in your week gives you some space to go down a revolving rabbit hole (or two) with us, whether on the crypto industry’s continuing efforts to influence how they’re regulated, or on Scott Sheffield, the former fossil fuel CEO engaged in an oil price-fixing scheme. 

Major corporate scandals make the consequences of Republican-led budget cuts at antitrust enforcement agencies even clearer. Crucially, they serve as reminders that the federal government’s ability to combat the ill effects of monopolization rises and falls in direct proportion to funding, even when motivated and creative leadership are at the helm.

This Sunday marks the start of National Small Business Week (NSBW). Hosted by the Small Business Administration (SBA), NSBW is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions that small businesses make to both the economy and our communities. It also allows Biden and his surrogates to go on a press tour touting his achievements in helping small businesses compete in an economy increasingly characterized by corporate consolidation. 

Yet, once again, the Small Business Administration is squandering the potential of its signature event by partnering with the very same monopolistic corporations that Biden’s antitrust enforcers are fighting in the courts.