Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement in response to Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

“Congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden on his recent victory. It is clear the country is looking for new leadership to address our concurrent public health and economic crises. As the President-elect begins building out his team and an agenda for an equitable economic recovery, it is critical his administration address the power large corporations have over our economy and democracy.”

“The past four years—and in particular, the past eight months—have been devastating. The uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 has shuttered millions of small businesses, put millions out of work, and resulted in the deaths of more than 235,000 Americans. Yet powerful corporations, supported by the CARES Act and emboldened by government inaction, have used the pandemic to gain even more control over an economy that was already hard-wired for inequality and exploitation. Changing course and empowering working people, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and communities will require the Biden administration to embrace diverse and independent voices, rebuild institutional capacity, and challenge powerful corporate and financial interests whenever they are in conflict with economic and racial justice or national security.”

“This will be a massive undertaking – but it is essential. For forty years, policymakers and antitrust enforcers have allowed monopolies to capture more and more power and trample on American economic liberties. Today, the tide is shifting; the dangers of concentrated economic power are impossible to deny and political will for confronting monopoly power is growing. President-elect Biden has an opportunity now to lead this movement. To build back better, he must.”

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Economic Liberties works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. AELP believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.