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Non-profit

Open Markets Institute

Website:

www.openmarketsinstitute.org/
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

82-2529375
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $2,592,622
Expenses: $4,018,923
Assets: $2,078,995
Type:

Think Tank
Founded:

2017
Executive Director:

Barry Lynn

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The Open Markets Institute is a left-leaning think tank that focuses on monopolies and how to break them up. The organization sees monopolization and corporate concentration as a threat to “democracy, individual liberties, and national security.”

The organization was officially launched in September 2017 as an independent organization. Previously, most of its team members had worked on a similar initiative at the center-left New America Foundation. 1

During the 2020 presidential race, the organization was credited with urging Democratic presidential candidates to develop tougher proposed policies on technology companies and other economic sectors. 2

Background

The Open Markets Institute is a left-of-center think tank with a focus on monopolies and corporate consolidation. The organization sees monopolies and corporate consolidation as a threat to “democracy, individual liberties, and national security” and seeks ways to break them up. 3

The organization’s roots stem from a project at the center-left New America Foundation. The project began in 2009 and featured most of the organization’s current staffers. The project at New America focused on monopolization and corporate concentration. 4

In June 2017, the head of the Open Markets project at New America, Barry Lynn, posted a statement on the New America website praising a fine that was levied against Google by European regulators. Google was a major funder of the New America Foundation at the time. The statement was at first removed from the New America website and then was reposted without explanation. After the statement was issued, New America’s leadership decided to sever all ties with the Open Markets project, which became independent. 5

In September 2017, the organization was launched as an independent organization. It carried over most of the staff from the New America project into the organization. 6

In June 2021, former Open Markets Institute fellow Lina Khan was confirmed as a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The organization praised her confirmation as important because the FTC would have someone who was aware of the power of monopolies and the ways to regulate and break them up. 7

Advocacy

The organization urged the U.S. government to crackdown on tech companies as monopolies. It claimed that those companies were a threat to American democracy. 8

The think tank had developed ties with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) over a shared interest in regulating businesses, and she had headlined Open Markets events when it was still a part of New America. Warren made breaking up tech companies a major theme of her 2020 presidential campaign. 9

Warren’s stance on breaking up tech companies forced the other potential Democratic presidential nominees to take a stance on the issue, though none went as far as embracing Warren’s call for a break-up. 10

In 2018, then-Open Markets Institute deputy director Sarah Miller co-authored an op-ed with Demand Progress executive director David Segal, in which they argued that Facebook was “one of the world’s most dangerous monopolies,” and should be broken up by the Federal Trade Commission. They suggested that Facebook should be forced to spin off WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger and be prohibited “from making any new acquisitions for at least five years.”11

Activities

The think tank is a co-leader of the “Freedom From Facebook” coalition, along with the left-progressive organization Demand Progress. The coalition is demanding that the Federal Trade Commission force Facebook to spin off its WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger subsidiaries. 12

New York Assemblyman Ron Kim (D), one of the lawmakers who led the opposition to the Amazon “HQ2” project, which would have seen an Amazon headquarters facility placed in New York, credited the think tank for developing the arguments used to block the project. In February 2019, Amazon decided to place its second headquarters somewhere else citing opposition by many politicians in New York City and state. 13

In May 2022, Open Markets Institute executive director Barry Lynn testified before a Congressional hearing on inflation. During his testimony, he claimed that monopolies were a cause of high inflation. 14

Criticism

The think tank’s combative style has drawn criticism and it has also been criticized for offering few fresh ideas and scorning honest debate. The think tank has also been criticized for demonstrating its lack of knowledge on economics or the law. 15

Leadership

Barry Lynn is the executive director of the organization. Previously, he as a fellow at the New America Foundation and ran its Open Markets program. He was previously the editor of Global Business Magazine and a correspondent for the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. 16

At least two former Open Markets Institute staff members went on to hold senior positions at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the Biden Administration. The group’s former legal director Lina Khan became chair of the FTC in 2021,17 while its former deputy director Sarah Miller became special advisor to the chair in 2023.18

Finances

In 2021, the Open Markets Institute reported raising $2,746,577 in total revenue, incurring $2,909,288 in total expenses, and having $1,874,148 in net assets.19

The Omidyar Network Fund reported giving $150,000 to the Open Markets Institute in 2021 “to support Grantee’s educational efforts on the harms of tech monopolies,” and $200,000 in 2019 for general operating support.20 The Omidyar Network explained in a 2019 article that it was funding the Open Markets Institute in order to “help deepen OMI’s work by supporting research, creating policy positions, and enabling advocacy directed at policymakers and regulators working to protect the public and enable market innovation.” It noted that this would help build “upon the legacy of Lina Khan, OMI’s former director of legal policy.”21

The Foundation to Promote Open Society gave $180,000 to the Open Markets Institute in 2017 in order “to help policy makers and citizens understand the nature and scope of the problems caused by monopoly power held by internet platform companies and find regulatory solutions,” and $200,000 in 2019 in order “to educate stakeholders on how powerful internet platforms impact competitive markets and democracy.”22

 

References

  1. Our Mission.” Open Markets Institute. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/our-mission.
  2. Scola, Nancy. “How A Liberal Think Tank Is Driving 2020 Dems To Crack Down On Big Tech.” Politico. June 14, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/open-market-institute-silicon-valley-monopolies-1507673.
  3. “Our Mission.” Open Markets Institute. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/our-mission.
  4. “Our Mission.” Open Markets Institute. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/our-mission.
  5. Vogel, Kenneth. “Google Critic Ousted From Think Tank Funded By The Tech Giant.” New York Times. Auguse 20, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/politics/eric-schmidt-google-new-america.html.
  6. “Our Mission.” Open Markets Institute. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/our-mission.
  7. “Lina Khan’s Confirmation As Commissioner On The Federal Trade Commission Is Momentous.” Open Markets Institute. June 15, 2021. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/lina-khans-confirmation-as-commissioner-on-the-federal-trade-commission-is-momentous.
  8. Scola, Nancy. “How A Liberal Think Tank Is Driving 2020 Dems To Crack Down On Big Tech.” Politico. June 14, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/open-market-institute-silicon-valley-monopolies-1507673.
  9. Scola, Nancy. “How A Liberal Think Tank Is Driving 2020 Dems To Crack Down On Big Tech.” Politico. June 14, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/open-market-institute-silicon-valley-monopolies-1507673.
  10. Scola, Nancy. “How A Liberal Think Tank Is Driving 2020 Dems To Crack Down On Big Tech.” Politico. June 14, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/open-market-institute-silicon-valley-monopolies-1507673.
  11. Sarah Miller and David Segal. “Break Up Facebook: Latest Hack Proves it’s a Dangerous Monopoly That a Fine Won’t Fix.” USA Today. October 8, 2018. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/10/05/facebook-dangerous-monopoly-divest-instagram-whatsapp-messenger-column/1512215002/
  12.  Scola, Nancy. “How A Liberal Think Tank Is Driving 2020 Dems To Crack Down On Big Tech.” Politico. June 14, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/open-market-institute-silicon-valley-monopolies-1507673
  13.  Scola, Nancy. “How A Liberal Think Tank Is Driving 2020 Dems To Crack Down On Big Tech.” Politico. June 14, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/open-market-institute-silicon-valley-monopolies-1507673.
  14. “The Corner Newsletter: May 20, 2022.” Open Markets Institute. May 20, 2022. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/the-corner-newsletter-may-20-2022.
  15. Scola, Nancy. “How A Liberal Think Tank Is Driving 2020 Dems To Crack Down On Big Tech.” Politico. June 14, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/open-market-institute-silicon-valley-monopolies-1507673
  16. “Barry C. Lynn.” Open Markets Institute. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/staff/barry-c-lynn.
  17. “Lina M. Khan.” Federal Trade Commission. Accessed August 28, 2023. Available at: https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/commissioners-staff/lina-m-khan
  18. “Economic Liberties Executive Director to Depart for Role at FTC.” American Economic Liberties Project. March 6, 2023. Available at: https://www.economicliberties.us/press-release/economic-liberties-executive-director-to-depart-for-role-at-ftc/
  19. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Open Markets Institute. 2021. Part I.
  20. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Omidyar Network Fund. 2019-2021. Part XIV.
  21. Anamitra Deb and Gus Rossi. “Why We’re Investing in Curbing the Power of Tech Platforms.” Medium. August 8, 2019. Available at: https://medium.com/omidyar-network/why-were-investing-in-curbing-the-power-of-tech-platforms-6cf5d5ee4760
  22. “Awarded Grants.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed August 28, 2023. Available at: https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=open+markets+institute&grant_id=OR2017-38587

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Sarah Miller
    Former Deputy Director
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: April 1, 2018

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form 990 $2,592,622 $4,018,923 $2,078,995 $42,136 N $2,592,622 $0 $0 $360,858
    2019 Dec Form 990 $5,040,782 $2,721,771 $3,537,197 $74,037 N $5,031,268 $8,750 $0 $299,663 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $1,617,677 $654,698 $1,206,583 $62,434 N $1,617,534 $0 $0 $41,750 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990EZ $91,200 $0 $91,200 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Open Markets Institute

    1440 G Street NW
    WASHINGTON, DC 20005-2001