"For every crime, you need means, motive, and opportunity," Rakeen Mabud explained on the Building Local Power podcast. Executives at some of the largest monopolies in our economy are using their market power to jack up prices on consumers. Their means is market power. Their motive is profit. What is the opportunity? The opportunity is for CEOs to pocket the revenue from price hikes while blaming inflation for the increases.
On this episode of Building Local Power, Rakeen Mabud the Chief Economist at Groundwork Collaborative and Ron Knox, Senior Researcher and Writer at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, take us on a riveting journey exposing the story of inflation that most economists don't want to tell.
As workers, citizens, and small businesses are made increasingly vulnerable in the face of rising prices, corporate profit margins are hitting a 70-year high. So, despite real issues with a broken infrastructure, the war against Ukraine, and a fragile supply chain, the recent history of unchecked mergers and corporate greed underlies much of what has left the majority of Americans so vulnerable in our economy today.
What is Building Local Power?
Building Local Power brings you thought-provoking stories and new ideas for breaking the hold of corporate monopolies and expanding the power of communities to chart their own futures. We deliver insights from trailblazing lawmakers, scholars, business leaders, and advocates. Plus, conversations with in-house experts at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance help reveal the patterns and policies that shape our economy and communities. These stories and conversations help map solutions that distribute power to everyday people.
Our newest series, The Data Centers Are Coming, brings listeners into the stories of local communities fighting back against Big Tech, corporate greed, bureaucratic secrecy, and a system that prioritizes scale at all costs.