Economics: Biden`s Crusade Against Amazon

 (Drivebycuriosity) - It seems that President Biden hates Amazon. In 2021 the President made Lina Khan, Amazon´s nemesis, chair of the mighty Federal Trade Commission (FTC), America´s antitrust agency. 

The Khan became famous in 2017 when she, just being a law student, published an anti-Amazon paper. She complained that Amazon´s prices are "too low" (!), which would drive competitors out of business and would hinder potential competitors to emerge. The Khan ignored history, economics and the continuously growing number of Amazon competitors ( reason   yalelawjournal  driveby). In the second quarter 2023 Amazon`s online shops advanced just 5% Y-o-Y , while Walmart`s e-commerce segment expanded 24% and Shopify´s revenues jumped 31% ( cnbc  ir.aboutamazon shopify). Monopoly?

Unfazed the Khan continues her attacks on Amazon. The Biden protege claimed publicly, that the corporation is "guilty of antitrust violations and should be broken up." (yalejreg.com wsj.com). Since she is in command of the FTC the Khan uses her power and employs the agency as weapon in her crusade against Amazon ( bloomberg). 

Recently the FTC sued Amazon and alleged that the firm used deceptive practices to manipulate consumers into signing up for its Prime offerings and then "sabotaged" attempts to cancel their accounts ( netchoice). Observers tested Khan`s accusation and were able to cancel Prime in less than 90 seconds, some needed just 30 seconds (twitter twitter  twitter).

Bloomberg and other media report also that Khan`s FTC prepares “the big one,” a major lawsuit targeting Amazon’s core business. Apparently the agency wants to attack Amazon´s market place (where others can sell on Amazon) and the 2-days shipment (bloomberg twitter cnbc  arstechnica). The lawsuit is expected for tomorrow. 

The crusade against Amazon is part of a broader movement called Neo-Brandeisians (after Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, 1916-1939). Lina Khan & Jonathan Kanter, head of the antitrust division of the department Justice (Justice ATR), another Biden protege, are working on a fundamental change of America´s economic structure and try to expand the role of the government in the U.S. economy significantly ( pbwt.com dailyjournal promarket reason). 

According to former FTC-Commissioner Christine S. Wilson the FTC represents a Marxist ideology and tries to replace the market process of supply and demand by a continuously regulated environment (ftc.gov ).

Biden´s antitrust zealots want to expand the targets of antitrust policy. They intend to fix issues like underemployment, income disparity, political power, and wealth accumulation (thehill ). Lina Khan wants to reconfigure antitrust toward the redistribution of economic and political power and away from concerns regarding price (lpeproject  realclearpolicy).  

Unfortunately the crusade happens under the radar. Who knows Lina Khan? Who has ever heard of the FTC? Who can explain the term "antitrust". On Internet you could find some elitist comments by some scholars. People will only notice when the damage is done.

Americans love Amazon Prime as a service. Poll after poll, and brand survey after brand survey, show that Amazon is one of the most favored institutions and among the most trusted brands in the US ( twitter). Amazon Prime membership offers benefits to consumers that other retailers are unable to provide, such as free, fast shipping options and the ability to return products at a number of convenient locations ( netchoice). Biden hates Amazon because it is big and successful - and more popular than he.