The American Economic Liberties Project is an advocacy group that opposes what it considers to be an excess concentration of corporate power in various sectors of the American economy. The organization says it opposes monopolies and calls for more federal and state regulation of private businesses in hopes to “redistribute economic power to the people.” ¹

Background

The American Economic Liberties Project was founded in February 2020 to promote what it called the intellectual victories of the anti-monopoly movement. The organization says it opposes the “crisis of concentrated economic power.” ²

Advocacy

The American Economic Liberties Project demands accountability from state and federal officials that have power to protect workers, small businesses, communities, and democracy from monopolistic corporations. The project also says it works with organizations, including labor unions, “racial justice” groups, and small businesses to “redistribute economic power to the people.” ³

The project supports aggressive investigatory agendas at the federal and state level, strong antitrust law enforcement, anti-corruption measures, corporate accountability, and what it calls a “strong administrative state” to challenge monopolies’ dominance. ⁴

In 2022, the project demanded stricter regulation of the airline industry after what it called the meltdown by the Federal Aviation Administration during the holiday season that year. ⁵

In 2023, the project has called for greater oversight and regulation of Ticketmaster, which it considers a monopoly. ⁶

Leadership

Sarah Miller is the executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project. She previously was the deputy director for the Open Markets Institute, which also backed stricter antitrust enforcement. Miller has said, “Ironically, it was a Google search for ‘monopolies in America’” that led her to find out about the Open Markets Institute. ⁷ She also previously worked for the Center for American Progress, and the U.S. Treasury Department. She was on the Biden-Harris transition team, helped launch the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and was the deputy economic policy director for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. ⁸

Pat Garofalo is the director of state and local policy for the American Economic Liberties Project. Garofalo previously worked for the Center for American Progress. He is the author of The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs. ⁹

Morgan Harper is the director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. Harper is a lawyer and a former candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Ohio. ¹⁰

Nidhi Hegde is the director of strategy and programs for the American Economic Liberties Project. Hegde is an international development professional and formerly worked for the Open Markets Institute, the Monitor Group, FSG, and the Omidyar Network. ¹¹

Matt Stoller is the director of research for the American Economic Liberties Project. Stoller is the author of Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. He is a former advisor to the Senate Budget Committee. ¹²

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2.  “American Economic Liberties Project.” Idealist. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/3302127568b74122b5d2e54482c8dfd0-american-economic-liberties-project-washington
3. “American Economic Liberties Project.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. November 1, 2021. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://hewlett.org/grants/american-economic-liberties-project-for-general-operating-support/
4. “American Economic Liberties Project.” Idealist. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/3302127568b74122b5d2e54482c8dfd0-american-economic-liberties-project-washington
5.  McGee, William. “It’s Time to Finally Fix Air Travel.” The New York Times. January 13, 2023. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/opinion/faa-air-travel-regulation-outage.html
6. Olen, Helaine. “Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift debacle was so bad it united the parties.” The Washington Post. January 26, 2023. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/26/ticketmaster-taylor-swift-senate-worst-monopoly/
7. Press Release. “Open Markets Congratulates American Economic Liberties Project on Its Launch.” February 11, 2020. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/open-markets-congratulates-american-economic-liberties-project-launch
8. “About Us.” American Economic Liberties Project. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.economicliberties.us/about/
9. “About Us.” American Economic Liberties Project. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.economicliberties.us/about/
10. “About Us.” American Economic Liberties Project. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.economicliberties.us/about/
11. “About Us.” American Economic Liberties Project. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.economicliberties.us/about/
12. “About Us.” American Economic Liberties Project. Accessed February 3, 2023. https://www.economicliberties.us/about/