This hour brings the news that Amazon.com is buying Whole Foods for nearly 14 billion dollars. It's a move that requires the government to step in under the anti-trust laws. In fact, it really is time for Amazon to be broken up or at least taken to task for its monopolizing behavior.
For the last two decades, Amazon has grown larger and larger. During most of that time, Amazon did not make much in the way of profits. It kept plowing its funds back into improving and enlarging its online business. That was fine and perfectly legal, but then it changed. Amazon got to the point where it sold a large part of all of the online sales in the USA. Then it started to use the profits it earned on that quasi-monopoly to enter new businesses. Amazon has moved into new areas and sold products at extremely low prices in order to beat out the competition. It certainly seems as if Amazon has been selling certain types of products below cost in order to force competitors out of business.
Lately, Amazon has been trying to move into groceries. This move has been based upon low prices which Amazon can support because of the profit it earns on other businesses where it has a monopoly. A move by Amazon to buy the nation's largest purveyor of organic foods, Whole Foods Markets, would just be another step in expanding Amazon's monopolies.
This has really reached a point where the FTC and the DOJ need to oppose the merger and move to break up Amazon's monopoly. There really is no other choice.
For the last two decades, Amazon has grown larger and larger. During most of that time, Amazon did not make much in the way of profits. It kept plowing its funds back into improving and enlarging its online business. That was fine and perfectly legal, but then it changed. Amazon got to the point where it sold a large part of all of the online sales in the USA. Then it started to use the profits it earned on that quasi-monopoly to enter new businesses. Amazon has moved into new areas and sold products at extremely low prices in order to beat out the competition. It certainly seems as if Amazon has been selling certain types of products below cost in order to force competitors out of business.
Lately, Amazon has been trying to move into groceries. This move has been based upon low prices which Amazon can support because of the profit it earns on other businesses where it has a monopoly. A move by Amazon to buy the nation's largest purveyor of organic foods, Whole Foods Markets, would just be another step in expanding Amazon's monopolies.
This has really reached a point where the FTC and the DOJ need to oppose the merger and move to break up Amazon's monopoly. There really is no other choice.
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