The Roosevelt Institute Welcomes Release of Democrats’ Economic Agenda

NEW YORK, NY – Earlier today, Congressional Democrats released an economic agenda that includes a new proposal to revive antitrust policy as a way to curb excessive corporate power and rebalance the economy.

The agenda’s emphasis on reducing corporate power and its inclusion of robust antitrust law echoes key messages and policy proposals that the Roosevelt Institute has called for since the think tank’s founding in the wake of the financial crisis.

“Today, Democrats have shown that they recognize what Americans have long known: excessive corporate power is strangling our economy, wrecking our democracy, and inhibiting economic growth. Taking monopolies seriously again, and explaining how we get them under control, is a crucial step towards getting our economy back on track,” said Felicia Wong, President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute. “For years, political leaders have failed to speak on the ways that growing corporate power leaves the majority of Americans struggling with stagnant wages, diminished prospects and increased costs of living. To win again across the country, they will have to first win back the trust of voters by honestly explaining both how we got here and the ways we can get to a better place. The agenda released today is an important and necessary first step.”

“Evidence increasingly shows that antitrust policy as it has been implemented for the last forty years isn’t getting the job done when it comes to ensuring economic growth and rising living standards for everyone, not just the lucky few who own and run powerful corporations,” said Marshall Steinbaum, Fellow and Research Director of the Roosevelt Institute. “Any agenda that does not meaningfully tackle and weaken the power that corporations and their shareholders have over the economy will fail to address the public’s legitimate grievances.”

Last week, TIME magazine ran an op-ed from Wong that outlined how progressives can articulate a winning vision on the economy, with an emphasis on the need for leaders to explain how we got here. In 2016, the Roosevelt Institute was profiled in the New York Times Magazine for its efforts to encourage then-candidate Hillary Clinton to champion a more progressive economic platform. Earlier that year Roosevelt released the report Untamed: How to Check Corporate, Financial, and Monopoly Power. The Institute won broad acclaim for its 2015 report Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy.

About the Roosevelt Institute

Until economic and social rules work for all Americans, they’re not working. Inspired by the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor, the Roosevelt Institute reimagines the rules to create a nation where everyone enjoys a fair share of our collective prosperity. We are a 21st century think tank bringing together multiple generations of thinkers and leaders to help drive key economic and social debates and have local and national impact.

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