Submission statement: This article accurately describes the mistaken viewpoints of the ”neo-Brandeisians” faction within the Democratic party. This group often fights against neoliberal ideas, and are the most vocally anti-neoliberal group that wields influence among mainstream democrats.
It is important to understand the motivations behind this group since they are some of the most influential opponents to neoliberals. At first glance it would seem like neo-Brandeisians anti-monopoly position wouldn’t be in conflict with neoliberal ideas, but this group views anyone who cares about anything other than monopolies to be an enemy. They think that prices are not set by market forces, but are entirely arbitrary, which is why they support things like price controls and oppose supply side reforms.
It is incredibly difficult to debate this group because they assume that anyone who disagrees with them is a paid shill. So they dismiss any counterargument as bad faith and won’t engage with any evidence that counters their claims, as they assume it is all corporate propaganda.
This group’s ideology is extremely popular, as they imply that all of our problems can be solved by taking on faceless corporations without any sacrifice from normal people. For example, the [NYT](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/21/polls/times-siena-poll-democrats-crosstabs.html) polled Democrats on what their preferred solution to housing prices and found that the majority preferred “lower prices by going after corporate monopolies” over a message about increasing supply.
If either of those solutions worked then it makes sense why people would prefer the solution of going after monopolies. The problem is that going after monopolies won’t lower housing prices. Joe Biden sent out a lot of these populist anti-price gouging messages, but voters were not satisfied by messaging when prices didn’t actually fall.
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Submission statement: This article accurately describes the mistaken viewpoints of the ”neo-Brandeisians” faction within the Democratic party. This group often fights against neoliberal ideas, and are the most vocally anti-neoliberal group that wields influence among mainstream democrats.
It is important to understand the motivations behind this group since they are some of the most influential opponents to neoliberals. At first glance it would seem like neo-Brandeisians anti-monopoly position wouldn’t be in conflict with neoliberal ideas, but this group views anyone who cares about anything other than monopolies to be an enemy. They think that prices are not set by market forces, but are entirely arbitrary, which is why they support things like price controls and oppose supply side reforms.
It is incredibly difficult to debate this group because they assume that anyone who disagrees with them is a paid shill. So they dismiss any counterargument as bad faith and won’t engage with any evidence that counters their claims, as they assume it is all corporate propaganda.
This group’s ideology is extremely popular, as they imply that all of our problems can be solved by taking on faceless corporations without any sacrifice from normal people. For example, the [NYT](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/21/polls/times-siena-poll-democrats-crosstabs.html) polled Democrats on what their preferred solution to housing prices and found that the majority preferred “lower prices by going after corporate monopolies” over a message about increasing supply.
If either of those solutions worked then it makes sense why people would prefer the solution of going after monopolies. The problem is that going after monopolies won’t lower housing prices. Joe Biden sent out a lot of these populist anti-price gouging messages, but voters were not satisfied by messaging when prices didn’t actually fall.