FTC v. Amazon
You may have seen us in some recent press about the FTC lawsuit against Amazon. We are thankful to the various media organizations who are telling this story and hopeful that we see some changes in the future. Amazon has long been a monopolist in many markets, intimidating and destroying thousands of small businesses along the way. Some people have expressed strong feelings about whether the government should or shouldn't be pursuing this action. I usually find the strongest opinions are the least informed. So, perhaps you'll spend a few minutes educating yourself about this lawsuit, Amazon's history and our antitrust laws before forming an opinion. Below, you will find some links to some informative sources about Amazon's operations and our antitrust laws, and the harms of monopolies in general that you may find helpful. As always, thanks for giving this your time.
https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/r.ZkSZQNilXw/v0 - here's a link to the case itself. It's 172 pages, so you may want to set aside an hour or two.
https://www.thebignewsletter.com/ - this is a great source for info on monopolies in general
https://ilsr.org/amazons-toll-road/ - An ILSR report on the ways that Amazon has infected all of e-commerce, influencing product availability, prices and merchants well beyond their own platform.
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/09/ftc-sues-amazon-illegally-maintaining-monopoly-power - The FTC press release about the Amazon suit.
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-ftc-antitrust-lawsuit-full-response - Amazon's response to the FTC suit
nicholasparks.substack.com - my personal Substack where I write about antitrust and Amazon.
And some links to media where we've been featured:
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/video/ftc-17-states-file-lawsuit-amazon-103521898
https://abcnews.go.com/WNN/video/amazon-responds-antitrust-suit-103520380
https://mynbc15.com/news/local/alabama-business-owner-agrees-with-ftc-lawsuit-against-amazon - This one has a little more depth than the ones with two second clips.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510318/up-first/
https://on.ft.com/3Q2iWhZ - We made it into the Financial Times!!