Our People » Sandeep Vaheesan
Sandeep Vaheesan is the legal director at the Open Markets Institute. He leads Open Markets’ legal advocacy and research work, including its amicus program.
Vaheesan works on a range of anti-monopoly topics, including antitrust law’s role in structuring labor markets and promoting fair competition. From 2015 to 2018, he served as a regulations counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he helped develop rules on payday and title lending and debt collection practices. Before that, he worked at the American Antitrust Institute.
Vaheesan’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Harvard Law & Policy Review, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Yale Law Journal Forum. He has a forthcoming book titled Democracy in Power with the University of Chicago Press on the history of public and cooperative power in the United States and the lessons it offers for building a clean, publicly accountable electric industry today.
The Open Markets Institute led a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson urging him to vigorously defend the agency’s 2024 rule banning non-compete clauses. The letter, signed by 16 other organizations including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Strategic Organizing Center, presents the statutory authority, historical precedent, and extensive economic evidence underpinning the rule.
Open Markets Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan condemns the partisan FTC’s withdrawing a historic Robinson-Patman lawsuit against beverage giant PepsiCo.
Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan publishes a major review critiquing Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson for promoting deregulation as a primary solution to societal challenges like housing shortages and the transition to renewable energy.
Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan released a statement on the April 14 decision by a federal jury to convict a Las Vegas executive for participating in a three-year conspiracy to fix the wages for home healthcare nurses.
Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan delivers a clear-eyed response to the abundance agenda, pointing readers to a better approach that he has explored extensively.
Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan and chief economist Brian Callaci argue that addressing the housing crisis requires more than just deregulation—instead, it demands a stronger state role in reshaping market structures to treat housing as a fundamental right.
Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan’s book Democracy in Power is highlighted in the article as a compelling call to reimagine government not as a barrier, but as a builder—drawing on the history of public power to advocate for a renewed, democratic role for the state in driving the clean energy transition.
In this issue, we look at how the Trump DOJ’s pursuit of a Google breakup could help rewrite the rules of the internet and AI for the future.
Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan emphasizes that expanding public power is crucial for fighting climate change, as it allows for faster and fairer transitions to clean energy.
Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan testifies in support of SB 11, a bill designed for protecting workers from exploitative contractual non-compete clauses.