Antitrust on the Campaign Trail with Maggie Goodlander

Most Americans know their food passes through many hands before reaching their plates, but few realize just how concentrated that chain of production has become. In this final episode of the season, antitrust lawyer Basel Musharbash reveals how roughly three dozen corporations have come to dominate nearly every aspect of America's food system, from farm to table.Drawing from his recent report "Kings Over the Necessaries of Life," Musharbash traces this consolidation through pivotal moments in American history, from the sweeping reforms of the 1930s New Deal to the deregulation of the 1970s and 80s. He tells Matt and David how today's agricultural giants wield their market power to shape everything from seed prices to distribution networks, often at the expense of farmers and consumers alike.

Wall Street's biggest players have a nemesis: Rohit Chopra. As head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he's the watchdog who coined the term "junk fees" and has saved Americans billions by cracking down on them. Over the past decade he has emerged as a leader in three critical areas: antitrust, finance, and student debt. But this aggressive oversight has powerful enemies. Tech billionaire Marc Andreessen claims Chopra is "terrorizing" banks and pushing them to cut off services to people based on politics. In this episode, Chopra sits down with Matt and David to set the record straight—and to explain how CFPB is actually fighting to make sure banks can't discriminate against anyone, while preventing powerful actors from rigging the financial system in their favor.

The Great American Drug Shortage isn't an accident - it's by design. In this eye-opening episode, we expose how three powerful drug distributors seized control of 90% of America's pharmaceutical supply chain, creating an artificial crisis that puts profits over patients.Behind the scenes, shadowy middlemen have turned the generic drug market into a losing game for manufacturers, leading to dangerous shortages of life-saving medications. Rather than delivering on free market promises of innovation and competition, this system produces something far more sinister: price-gouging, monopoly control, and manufactured scarcity.Our guide through this pharmaceutical maze is Tim Ward, president and chief legal officer of Hercules, an independent pharmaceutical wholesaler fighting to survive against industry giants. Ward offers an insider's view of how a handful of corporations gained the power to determine which medications Americans can—and can't—access.

Rep. Chris Deluzio (D) defied Pennsylvania's red wave, outperforming Kamala Harris in working-class areas outside of Pittsburgh to secure re-election. He joins David and Matt to talk about what the Democratic party can learn from his victory. Deluzio says Democratic candidates in tough races won by focusing on pocketbook issues and standing up to powerful forces harming their constituents. Deluzio says you need a clear vision and bold messaging: "Not every issue has a win-win solution. Sometimes there’s a bad guy, and you’ve got to be willing to fight them."

Americans lose over $150 billion annually to state lotteries, casinos, and online gambling—that’s $300,000 every minute. How did gambling become so entrenched in American life? And how are FanDuel and DraftKings driving this crisis?In this episode, we’re joined by Les Bernal, National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling, and Dr. Kavita Fisher, a psychiatrist whose life was deeply affected by online gambling addiction. Together, they uncover how corporate giants and state governments profit at the expense of millions, fueling addiction and financial ruin.Check out the Al Jazeera documentary " The Big Gamble": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ9qp9UftEE.            And the New York Times investigation into online sports betting: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/podcasts/the-daily/sports-betting-lobbying-laws-states.html

When Laura Modi launched Bobby in 2020, it was the first infant formula company to enter the U.S. market in over six years. At the time, the U.S. baby formula industry was dominated by two major players (Abbott and Reckitt) they controlled 80% of the market. Two years later, that monopoly would lead to a crisis when Abbott Labs shut down its main production facilities because of contamination. Modi explains the significant barriers to entry in the industry, and how the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program's state-by-state exclusive contracts with formula manufacturers have historically reinforced market concentration.

In the battleground state of Arizona, voters are telling campaigns that they want more antitrust! Earlier this year, state Attorney General Kris Mayes sued a bunch of corporate landlords and a software company called RealPage for illegally raising rents in Phoenix and Tucson using an algorithm, hiking the cost of renting by as much as 20%. Her lawsuit went viral. And now, voters are telling campaign staff at the doors that they love what Mayes did and want more of it. Rent, antitrust, corporate power, and elections, all in one episode.

We hear a lot about how Big Tech uses algorithms to serve up information - but on this episode, we have a story about how they also use their power to control what you can see and hear. After independent journalist Ken Klippenstein wrote a story sharing a dossier about J.D. Vance, allegedly obtained in an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign, X suspended his account and blocked links to his Substack. People that shared his post on X had their  accounts suspended and were told to take down the post if they wanted their accounts reinstated. This is a cautionary tale about how Big Tech uses its power to limit speech, and how that's not limited to going after one political party or persuasion.Check out Ken's site here: https://www.kenklippenstein.com

Maggie Goodlander is running for Congress from New Hampshire by running against monopolies. What's it like to mount a political campaign built on antitrust, and can you win with that kind of messge? We speak with Maggie and hear from other candidates who taking a similar message to the voters in their districts.Check out the candidates we spoke to in this episode:https://maggiefornh.com https://willrollinsforcongress.com https://www.monicatranel.com

In Part 1, we heard how pharmacists are trying to push back against the monopolistic and harmful practices of PBMs. Today, we hear from another avenger who is taking the battle against PBMs to his workplace on Capitol Hill. Representative Jake Auchicloss is a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Pharmacists Fight Back Act, the most comprehensive PBM reform ever introduced at the federal level. He tells David and Matt that you've got to delink the money that a PBM earns to the price of a drug or the volume of drugs that are sold. And he's not willing to settle for less.