And what it means for American democracy.
Brian S. Feldman
Brian S. Feldman is a researcher-reporter with the Open Markets Program at New America and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.
Posted inEconomy, Magazine, March/April/May 2016, The Monopolized Economy
The Real Reason Middle America Should Be Angry
Like many “flyover” cities, St. Louis’s decline is not mainly a story of deindustrialization, but of decisions in Washington that opened the door to predatory monopoly.
Posted inEconomy, Magazine, March/April/May 2016, The Monopolized Economy
Redlining from Afar: How Consolidation Killed Off St. Louis’s Exemplary Minority Lender
Just after Thanksgiving in 1996, a group of 146 St. Louisans, mainly from the black business community, boarded a chartered TWA jetliner and flew to New York City. Their goal? To block the takeover of their hometown Boatmen’s Bank by shutting down the New York Stock Exchange. Led by the St. Louis lawyer Eric Vickers, […]
Posted inEconomy, Magazine, March/April/May 2016
Communication Breakdown: How St. Louis’s Healthy Media Market Declined
In June 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Communications Act, a bill that prohibited radio, telephone, and other media companies from owning more than one broadcast license in a single community. A more diverse set of owners, stations, and channels, Roosevelt reasoned, would yield a wider set of program and service viewpoints, and would protect […]
