On February 18, 2022, thousands of publicly-employed union workers, retirees, and university students participated in a national strike and march that spread throughout Puerto Rico, with the largest contingent filling streets in San Juan. Demonstrators marched behind a banner declaring ‘People …
Puerto Rican Workers' UnionCentral Workers' FederationUnited Auto WorkersElectrical Workers' UnionPuerto Rico Teachers' Unions+1 morepuerto-ricolabor-organizingstrikespromesaausterity+5 more
LUMA Energy officially took over operation of Puerto Rico’s electrical transmission and distribution system on June 1, 2021, triggering widespread protests under the rallying cry ‘Fuera LUMA’ (Out LUMA). The takeover represented the culmination of McKinsey’s privatization …
LUMA EnergyPuerto Rico Labor UnionsAngel Figueroa JaramilloJocelyn Velazquez RodriguezTodo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico Coalition+1 morepuerto-ricoluma-energyprotestsprivatizationlabor-organizing+5 more
The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority recommended LUMA Energy—a joint venture between Quanta Services and Canadian Utilities Limited—to operate Puerto Rico’s electrical transmission and distribution system for 15 years in exchange for $1.5 billion, with annual management fees of …
On July 24, 2009, the Obama administration announced Race to the Top (RttT), a $4.35 billion competitive grant program that would profoundly reshape American education policy by requiring states to adopt charter school expansion, test-based teacher evaluations, and Common Core standards as …
President Barack ObamaSecretary of Education Arne DuncanBill GatesGates FoundationDemocrats for Education Reform+1 moreeducationcharter-schoolsteacher-evaluationobama-administrationneoliberal-reform+1 more
Hurricane Katrina became the largest implementation of ‘disaster capitalism’ in U.S. history, with corporate interests using the crisis to advance privatization agendas previously blocked. Within 10 days of the levees breaking, .4 billion in no-bid contracts were awarded to four major …
Dick CheneyHalliburtonBechtelShaw GroupFluor+1 morehurricane-katrinadisaster-capitalismno-bid-contractsprivatizationdisplacement
On January 22, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the DC School Choice Incentive Act, creating the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP)—the first federally-funded private school voucher program in American history. Congress used its constitutional authority over the District of Columbia to …
President George W. BushSpeaker Dennis HastertSenator Judd GreggDC Public SchoolsHeritage Foundation+1 moreeducationvouchersprivatizationfederal-policywashington-dc
L. Paul Bremer III, head of the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) occupation government in Iraq, issues Order 39 on foreign investment as part of his ‘100 Orders’ imposing what economist Joseph Stiglitz calls ‘arguably the most radical market shock therapy tried …
Paul BremerCoalition Provisional AuthorityGeorge W. BushIyad Allawishock-doctrineiraq-warprivatizationcorporate-powerneoliberalism+2 more
L. Paul Bremer III, appointed head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) on May 6, 2003, begins issuing binding orders with the force of law to radically transform Iraq’s economy from centralized planning to free-market capitalism. From May 6, 2003 until June 28, 2004, Bremer issues 100 …
Paul BremerCoalition Provisional AuthorityGeorge W. BushDonald RumsfeldDick Cheneyshock-doctrineiraq-warprivatizationcorporate-powerneoliberalism+3 more
On June 27, 2002, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris that Cleveland’s school voucher program did not violate the Establishment Clause, even though 96% of voucher students attended religious schools. The decision, authored by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, removed the …
Chief Justice William RehnquistJustice Sandra Day O'ConnorJustice Clarence ThomasInstitute for JusticeClint Bolick+1 moreeducationsupreme-courtvouchersreligious-schoolsestablishment-clause+1 more
On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law at Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio, with bipartisan fanfare that masked the legislation’s deeply destructive effects on public education. Co-sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy and …
President George W. BushSenator Ted KennedyRepresentative John BoehnerPearson EducationETS+1 moreeducationtestingprivatizationcorporate-capturebipartisan-consensus+1 more
Indigenous organizations led by CONAIE and the Coalition in Defense of Water and Life (Coordinadora) launch a massive uprising in Cochabamba, Bolivia, blocking roads and marching on the capital to protest World Bank-imposed water privatization. Throughout the 1990s, Bolivia faced increasing pressure …
Bechtel CorporationAguas del TunariWorld BankHugo BanzerCoalition in Defense of Water and Life+2 moreshock-doctrinestructural-adjustmentworld-bankprivatizationbolivia+3 more
The IMF mandates comprehensive structural adjustment policies for affected Asian countries, including Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand. These policies involve privatization, trade liberalization, and financial deregulation, fundamentally transforming local economic structures to benefit …
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) canceled most of its funding for Harvard’s Russia economic reform project after investigations revealed that top Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) officials Andrei Shleifer and Jonathan Hay had used their …
Andrei ShleiferJonathan HayHarvard Institute for International DevelopmentUnited States Agency for International DevelopmentLawrence Summers+2 moreharvardrussiausaidcorruptionconflict-of-interest+4 more
The Russian government under President Boris Yeltsin implemented the ’loans-for-shares’ privatization scheme between November and December 1995, auctioning twelve of Russia’s most profitable industrial enterprises—including mining, steel, shipping, and oil companies—to a small …
Boris YeltsinVladimir PotaninMikhail KhodorkovskyBoris BerezovskyRoman Abramovich+3 morerussiaoligarchsloans-for-sharesprivatizationcorruption+5 more
Russia launched the world’s largest privatization program, distributing vouchers worth 10,000 rubles each to approximately 148 million citizens, enabling the privatization of over 15,000 medium and large enterprises. The program was designed and implemented by Anatoly Chubais, chairman of the …
Anatoly ChubaisBoris YeltsinState Committee for State Property ManagementRussian Governmentrussiaprivatizationshock-therapyoligarchswealth-transfer+4 more
Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered the liberalization of foreign trade, prices, and currency, launching the radical ‘shock therapy’ economic transformation designed by Deputy Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, a 35-year-old liberal economist advised by Harvard’s Jeffrey Sachs. The …
Boris YeltsinYegor GaidarJeffrey SachsHarvard UniversityInternational Monetary Fund+1 moreshock-therapyrussiashock-doctrineneoliberalismprivatization+5 more
Harvard University’s Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) received a $40.4 million contract from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide advice on privatization and market reforms in post-Soviet Russia, awarded without normal competitive …
Harvard Institute for International DevelopmentAndrei ShleiferJonathan HayLawrence SummersUnited States Agency for International Development+1 morerussiaharvardusaidshock-therapyprivatization+4 more
On June 4, 1991, Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson signed the nation’s first charter school law, creating a new category of publicly funded but independently operated schools that would transform American education over the following three decades. The legislation, championed by the Citizens …
Governor Arne CarlsonMinnesota LegislatureCitizens LeagueTed KolderieJoe Nathaneducationcharter-schoolsprivatizationschool-choicemodel-legislation
On March 27, 1990, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson signed legislation creating the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the nation’s first publicly-funded voucher program allowing public tax dollars to pay private school tuition. The program, initially limited to 1,000 low-income …
Governor Tommy ThompsonRepresentative Polly WilliamsBradley FoundationMilwaukee Public Schoolseducationvouchersprivatizationschool-choicemilwaukee+1 more
On April 26, 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform,” a report that fundamentally reshaped American education discourse and laid the ideological groundwork for decades of privatization efforts. The …
National Commission on Excellence in EducationSecretary of Education Terrel BellRonald ReaganHeritage Foundationeducationprivatizationreagan-eramanufactured-crisisschool-choice+1 more
On June 6, 1978, California voters approved Proposition 13 with nearly two-thirds support, fundamentally altering the state’s fiscal structure and launching a national tax revolt movement. The initiative, championed by Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann, added Article XIIIA to the California …
Howard JarvisPaul Ganntax-policyausterityneoliberalismprivatization
President Richard Nixon signed the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 into law on December 29, 1973, following Senate sponsorship by Edward Kennedy. The Act provided grants and loans to start or expand Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), removed certain state restrictions for federally …
Richard NixonJohn EhrlichmanEdward KennedyEdgar Kaiserhealthcare-profiteeringinstitutional-capturecorporate-profitprivatization