Economics: Amazon Is Losing Market Share - Why Does The FTC Call Them A Monopolist?

(Drivebycuriosity) - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a massive law suit against Amazon. America`s mighty antitrust authority claims that the corporation is a monopolist and stifles emerging competition (ftc.gov vox.com). Really?

Let´s check the facts. In the fourth quarter 2023 Amazon`s online stores advanced just 8% YoY, while Walmart`s e-commerce segment expanded 17% YoY in the US and 23% worldwide, obviously eating Amazon`s market share, at least part of it (amazon cnbc). 

Amazon is also losing market share to Shopify. The E-commerce platform boosted her gross merchandise volume (the total volume of merchandise sold on the platform) by 23% YoY, rebutting the claim that "Amazon stifles emerging competition" ( cnbc). 

The FTC law suit also ignores innovative newcomers ("emerging competition") who are aggressively entering the highly competitive e-commerce market (economist). Last September the Chinese online service TikTok launched its e-commerce shop, called TikTok Shop, in the U.S. "in an effort to translate the app’s cultural relevance among young consumers to sales" ( apnews npr.org). More than 200,000 sellers have already registered for the TikTok Shop!

And the Chinese shopping app Temu, known from their Super Bowl commercial, is rapidly gaining ground (retailbrew ). CNBC reports: "Since the Chinese shopping app launched in the U.S. in September 2022, it has become the number one e-commerce app in the country, with downloads skyrocketing 50x from 600,000 to 30 million in just one quarter, according to Bernstein analysts. In contrast, Amazon’s downloads have dropped off a cliff, falling 40% in a year. Known for wild discounts and dirt-cheap prices that severely undercut Amazon’s, Temu has ratcheted up its ad spend to infiltrate the American consumer, set to spend an estimate $2 billion in marketing in 2023" ( cnbc). Temu’s parent company PDD Group said revenue rose by 94% to 68.84 billion yuan ($9.62 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from a year ago ( cnbc).

Amazon is also losing market share to Shein, "the ultra-cheap fast-fashion app" (nymag). New York Magazine claims that "Shein Found Amazon’s Weakness". According to the magazine "Shein, which is headquartered in Singapore but was founded in and operates largely out of China, commands a network of thousands of suppliers to churn out on-trend clothing at impossibly low prices". Amazon already responded to the new competition and was forced "to dramatically decrease the commissions it takes on cheap clothing “ (nymag ). 

The real purpose of the FTC law suit is to gain control over one of America´s largest corporations and to be in charge of Amazon`s business (I elaborated the issue here). FTC Chair Lina Khan wants to tell Amazon what it can do and what not, how much the corporation charges their customers and how they deal with the business partners (nationalreview ).

How corrupt would a court be if it accepts a law suit which is based on lies and false accusations?

 

P.S. The FTC Amazon lawsuit reminds me of a famous article by the Guardian 

 

 

 

Economics: Why We Need Trillionaires!

 

(Drivebycuriosity) -  There is a lot talk about billionaires. "I don`t think billionaires should exist", tweeted Bernie Sanders (blairbelle). Sanders is mistaken, we need even trillionaires in the not so far future.

America`s rise was driven by inventors & entrepreneurs who often became billionaires (in today´s money). In the early 1920s Henry Ford, who was obsessed with driving production costs lower, made cars affordable for the masses and created so a huge industry and wealth for the whole nation. Today´s billionaires Gates, Bezos, Musk & Co. became extremely wealthy by giving us cheap computers & software, by delivering goods fast, cheap & reliably to our house doors or pioneer cars, that don´t burn fuel. iPhone creator Steve Jobs, who would be member of today´s billionaires club, created tiny computers that changed the live of almost everyone. These innovators & entrepreneurs became über-rich, but they also improved the productivity of the society and raised global wealth.

The society gained even more indeed. Prof. Nordhaus, winner of Economics Nobel Prizes 2018, wrote in his 2004 paper “Schumpeterian Profits in the American Economy: Theory and Measurement,”: “Only a minuscule fraction of the social returns from technological advances over the 1948-2001 period was captured by producers, indicating that most of the benefits of technological change are passed on to consumers rather than captured by producers.” (aier.org). According to Nordhaus "producers, on average, capture a mere 2.2% of the total benefits of their successful introduction into markets of technological advances. A whopping 97.8 % of those benefits are enjoyed by people each of whom as a consumer did nothing other than exercise his right to spend his money on those options that he judges best for himself".

Tomorrow´s billionaires will be visionaries with the talent to realize their visions. They will become ridiculous rich by creating something new. Maybe a cancer vaccine, a life expanding pill, cold fusion, room temperature superconductivity or something unknown today. We all - and the future generations - will be winners.

The wish to become a trillionaire might not be the driving motif; maybe the future trillionaire wants to save humankind like Musk, who is pioneering technologies like electric vehicles, space flights and more.

The trillionaires of the future will help to make the world even a better place.

Contemporary Art: John Henderson´s Abstracts @ Gallery Perrotin New York

(Drivebycuriosity) - The French/American Gallery Perrotin on Orchard Street has usually 3 art shows on 3 floors - and many of them are interesting. 

 

Some days ago I posted about Xiyao Wang´s exhibition ( driveby), this post is about John Henderson´s abstracts ( perrotin). The show is called "enchaînement ".

 

To be continued

 

Science Fiction: Nightfall - Short Stories By Isaac Asimov

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Isaac Asimov belonged to the authors who defined science fiction in the 20th century. Recently I read his novel "Even the Gods" (my review). The anthology "Nightfall and other stories" contains 20 stories selected by the master himself (amazon ). I have five favorites:

"What a wonderful day": In a far future people commute with the help of an advanced technology, called "Doors". One who walks through one of these "Doors" can immediately reach any place on earth if there is a "Door". The easiness of commuting changed human behavior fundamentally, but with a price.

"Green Patches": The crew of a space ship is on the way home, after exploring a far away planet which is populated by a very different life form. Did the visit have consequences?

In "What if" (first published 1952) Asimov imagined AI and self-driving cars: "It could choose an ideal course, avoid cars, stop at red lights, pick the optimum speed for the terrain. Everybody could sit in the back seat and automobile accidents would vanish". Shout it from the roof top!

"What is this thing called love?": Very powerful aliens, who had parked their spaceship in earth´s orbit, abducted a man and woman, both randomly chosen and unknown to each other, to find out if humanity could rapidly evolve into a danger for the whole cosmos and has to be destroyed or not. A hilarious take on how scifi & sex was represented in the 50`s magazines.

"The machine that won the war" is about a huge super computer that helped to defeat dangerous aliens - or did it?

Asimov is still ahead most of the contemporary scifi writers.

Contemporary Art: The 14th Floor - A Group Exhibition @ Gallery Gratin New York

(Drivebycuriosity) - Manhattan´s East Village is a
cluster of dives and fast food places, but there are also some ambitious art galleries. The tiny Gallery Gratin on Avenue B has frequently interesting shows. Some weeks ago I posted about an exhibition with Polish avant-garde ( driveby).

 

Recently I saw there a group exhibition, called "The 14th Floor" ( gratin). On top of this post you can see an image by Shelby Jackson (2024) followed by Juliana Seraphin (1978 ) & Rita Ackerman (1993 ). All three are untitled.

 

 Above follow Kye Christensen-Knowles` "Akihito Ichihara of Sankai Juku" (2024) &  Shuriya Davis`
"Hard Work Paying Off" (2021).
 

 

 Above you can see images by Richard Prince (2011) & Sedrick Chisom (2024 ), both untitled & Randy Wray´s "Proposition" (2024 ).

To be continued

 

 

Economics: Why We Need Self-Driving Cars Asap

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - There are nearly 43,000 fatal car crashes a year in the U.S ( google). A horrible number. Many of these accidents are caused by driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, distracted driving, texting & speeding.

Self-driving cars would end this. Computers don´t drink, they don´t take drugs, they are not distracted and they don´t speed to impress or to pretend Formula One skills. In the year 1952 Isaac Asimov already imagined AI & self-driving cars: "It could choose an ideal course, avoid cars, stop at red lights, pick the optimum speed for the terrain. Everybody could sit in the back seat and automobile accidents would vanish" (short story "What If", reprinted in the anthology "Nightfall" amazon).

Computers are superior to human drivers. They have a much shorter response time. They need just a nanosecond to respond to a surprising event (like a child on the street), their circuits work much much faster than a human brain. And with the assistance of sensors the computer can respond to complex traffic situations (hydroplaning, ice, potholes, rain, fog) much better than a human driver. 

Self-driving cars are also more efficient, because computers can calculate the optimum speed, track and driving rhythm. Therefore they use less energy to move from place A to place B. Self-driving cars will burn less gasoline which reduces the consumption of fossilized energy and create less exhaust, curbing the greenhouse effect. Fewer accidents will also translate into much lower insurance costs. Driving will get cheaper.

We need self-driving cars asap!

Contemporary Art: The Eccentric Use Of Form - Xiyao Wang @ Gallery Perrotin New York

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Manhattan`s Lower East Side is slowly degenerating into a party district with a legion of fast food places & other dives. But there are still some fine art galleries, albeit fewer than some years ago. The French/American Gallery Perrotin on Orchard Street belongs to the stalwarts. I frequently see amazing shows there.

Recently I spotted an exhibition with works by Berlin-based Chinese artist Xiyao Wang (born in 1992 in Chongqing, China   xiyaowang ). The show is called "Do you hear the Waterfall?" ( perrotin). As usual I took some pictures there. I love Wang´s filigrane compositions, the delicate use of colors and how these elements defy gravity.

On top of this post you can see "The Butterfly Dreaming of Becoming Zhuangzi No. 1" (2023, Oil stick, charcoal on canvas) followed by "Zhuangzi Dreaming of Becoming a Butterfly No. 1" (2023
Oil stick, charcoal on canvas). 

            Eccentric Use Of Form

 

According to the press release Wang rejected Chinese elements and embraced German artists Gunther Forg or Albert Oehlen, their eccentric use of form. They are also inspirations of Cy Twombly of course.

I found the image below on the Internet:

 

 

To be continued