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Not defending Amazon's behavior but the standard for government intervention in antitrust cases has for decades been how the anticompetitive behavior affects co
by skystarman 5y ago
Not defending Amazon's behavior but the standard for government intervention in antitrust cases has for decades been how the anticompetitive behavior affects consumers, NOT other businesses/sellers.
And it's pretty clear that Amazon has led to much lower prices and a consumer surplus compared to alternatives in the market.
And for all the shit AMZN gets on HN and over social media, broadly it is still one of the most widely respected and popular companies in the US across a broad spectrum of consumers.
You can argue whether that's overall good or bad, but I'm talking about the law as it is and has been enforced vs. what people WISH the law said.
- stjohnswarts 5y agoYeah I don't think current antitrust law really covers it. I think in the next decade we'll get new versions of what a monopoly, oliogopoly, and antitrust cover as umbrella descriptors. Amazon may get even worse since Bezos is leaving soon.
- ticviking 5y agoExcept that the lawsuit literally says the opposite. That Amazon punishes people offering lower prices elsewhere.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y agoYour point might be true in small sub-markets - for example for AliBaba imports, especially those where tens of sellers all import exactly the same items at broadly similar prices. As a general point, it's not even close to being true.