Michelle Meagher is a British lawyer, author and campaigner.[1] Meagher is advocating for an overhaul of competition policy away from the Chicago School antitrust consumer-centered paradigm.[2]
Michelle Meagher | |
|---|---|
 Michelle Meagher in 2018 | |
| Education | Oxford University, Georgetown University |
| Occupation(s) | competition lawyer, campaigner |
| Website | michellemeagher |
Early life and education
editMeagher was born in the UK. She is British of Bangladeshi origin. Her parents wanted her to become a medical doctor.[3] Meagher chose instead to study Philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University and competition law at Georgetown University.[4]
After her studies she worked as competition lawyer for Magic Circle law firms.[5]
In 2013, Meagher was emotionally affected by the Rana Plaza tragedy,[6] in which an eight-story commercial building collapsed in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, killing over 1,100 people, principally garment factories workers. Meagher's maternal family came from Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, situated close to the district where Rana Plaza was once located and Meagher identified with the victims of the tragedy.[3]
As an M&A lawyer facilitating mergers between large companies, Meagher was confronted with a crisis of consciousness.[7] She saw irresponsible corporate governance structures resulting from unfettered competition for profits as the ultimate reason behind the Rana Plaza tragedy. Consequently, Meagher quit her job with a renowned multinational law firm.[8]
Anti-monopoly work
editIn 2020, Meagher published the book Competition is Killing Us, in which she argues for a redesign of competition law to control the power of Big Tech.[9]
Meagher repeatedly called out the concentration of corporate power. She called for more regulatory intervention to rebalance the interests of shareholders with the interests of citizens,[10] such as mandatory sharing of anonymized data by Big Tech companies with their smaller competitors.[11]
In 2021, Meagher co-founded the European anti-monopoly organisation Balanced Economy Project, with the journalist Nicholas Shaxson.[12]
Meagher is a senior policy fellow at the Centre for Law, Economics and Society, University College London (UCL). She a co-founder of the think tank Inclusive Competition Forum.[9]
Meagher's contribution to the anti-monopoly movement has been likened to Lina Khan in the US, among other antitrust legal scholars.[13]
Corporate accountability
editShareholder primacy is one myth of free markets that Meagher discussed in her work.[14] She suggested to revisit the rules of corporate governance to ensure a greater alignment of companies' behavior with broader society goals and with environmental sustainability requirements.[15]
References
edit- ^ "Michelle Meagher". The Guardian. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Ashcroft, Ross (January 29, 2021). "Competition is Killing Us". Renegade Inc. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ a b Meagher, Michelle (2020). Competition is Killing Us. Penguin. p. xi. ISBN 9780241423011.
- ^ "Michelle Meagher". Centre for Law, Economics and Society. UCL. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ "The Oxford Farming Conference". OFC. 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ Schechter, Asher (December 21, 2020). "The Best Political Economy Books of 2020". ProMarket. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ "Competition is Killing Us: How Big Business is Harming Our Society and Planet - and What To Do About It". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Seder, Sam (March 15, 2021). "3/15 Competition is Killing Us & How to Stop Big Business from Harming the World w/ Michelle Meagher". The Majority Report. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ a b Nylen, Leah (October 20, 2020). "Why breaking up (Google) is so hard to do". Politico. Washington. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Foroohar, Rana (May 2, 2022). "The failures of stakeholder capitalism". Financial Times. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Thornhill, John (November 19, 2020). "Europe needs to build the digital future not just bash Big Tech". Financial Times. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Bou Mansour, Mark (May 19, 2023). "Nicholas Shaxson to lead new anti-monopoly organisation". Tax Justice Network. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Iacovides, Marios (March 22, 2022). "Why Aligning Antitrust Policy With Sustainability is a Moral Imperative". ProMarket. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
- ^ Cocking, Simon (December 10, 2020). "Why Competition is Killing Us, insights with Michelle Meagher". Irish Tech News. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
- ^ Bove, Tristan (May 3, 2021). "Book Review: Competition is Killing Us by Michelle Meagher". earth.org. Retrieved January 15, 2024.