Policymakers and voters will want to take note." "Hubbard’s cogent, accessible analysis makes a persuasive case that unchecked monopolies have rigged the system against ordinary Americans. "A provocative call to restore economic competition by dismantling the ruling plutocracy." Emboldened by the previous century when we successfully broke up monopoly power in the US, we have the tools to dismantle corporate power again today-before their lobbying threatens to undermine our economy and democracy for generations to come. In this “accessible guide” (Zephyr Teachout, author of Break ‘Em Up), Sally Hubbard gives us an easy-to-understand overview of the history of monopolies and antitrust law, and urges us to use our voices, votes, and wallets to protest monopoly power. ![]() They’re a threat to our private lives, fair elections, a robust press, and ultimately, the American Dream that so many of us are striving for. They’re robbing us of the ability to take care of our sick, a healthy food supply, and a habitable planet by using business practices that deplete rather than generate. By charging high prices, skirting taxes, and reducing our pay and economic opportunities, they are not only stealing our money, but also robbing us of innovation and choice, as market dominance prevents new companies from challenging them. Throughout history, monopolists who controlled entire industries like railroads and oil were aptly called “robber barons” because they extracted wealth from everyone else-and today’s monopolies are no different. In Monopolies Suck, antitrust expert and director at the Open Markets Institute, Sally Hubbard, shows us the seven ways big corporations rule our lives-and what must be done to stop them. When your expenses keep going up but your income stays flat, when you’re price-gouged buying medicine for your child’s life-threatening allergy, when you live in a hyped-up state of fear and anxiety, monopoly power is playing a key role. No matter how hard you work, life seems to only get harder. And contrary to its current reputation, the game “was used to demonstrate how property owners could bankrupt their poor renters,” NPR’s Planet Money reported.īack in 2002, NPR’s Juan Williams reported that The Landlord Game was based on several economic ideas, including “the virtues of the Single-Tax Movement” put forth by Henry George in 1871.An urgent and witty manifesto, Monopolies Suck “lucidly explains how monopolies threaten democracy, worsen inequality, and imperil the American Dream-and why it’s more important than ever to take action” (David Cicilline). In the U.S., Hasbro is releasing a special 80th anniversary edition that includes a range of game tokens such as a lantern (1930s), cannon (1950s), and a bathtub (1940s).Īs many Monopoly fans will know, its roots began much earlier than 1935, as Elizabeth Magie patented The Landlord’s Game in 1904. Gaillard adds that the money was put into the boxes during a secret operation - but Hasbro says that people hunting for the real money could look for two possible hints: the real cash gives the Monopoly boxes a different weight, and it also makes the box bulge a bit. “When we asked our French customers, they told us they wanted to find real money in their Monopoly boxes.” “We wanted to do something unique,” Hasbro France brand manager Florence Gaillard tells Agence France-Presse. While only one game box will include the equivalent of about $23,500, the 79 others will include hundreds of euros mixed in with the colorful Monopoly money. The company says it sells about 500,000 of the sets in France each year. Hasbro is putting a sticker on 30,000 boxes of the game to announce that they might contain real cash. The amount of cash in the boxes varies only one set will come with the equivalent of the Monopoly bank.įinding the 20,580 euros will be a challenge. To mark 80 years of Monopoly, game maker Hasbro has tucked real money into 80 game sets to be sold in France.
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