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How to Fight Amazon (Before You Turn 29)
Article

How to Fight Amazon (Before You Turn 29)

Lina Khan Has a Novel Theory About Monopolies – and Her Sights Are Set Squarely on the Company.

The Atlantic, 2018

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google have acquired an unprecedented amount of influence over people’s lives, and inevitably, there is pushback. In the United States, 29-year old legal scholar Lina Khan has become the face of a new movement that attributes the companies’ unfettered expansion to outdated antitrust legislation. Writing for The Atlantic, Robinson Meyer offers a lively portrait of Khan’s budding legal career and activism. To find out why Khan believes Amazon hurts consumers despite offering low prices, read Meyer’s insightful analysis.

Summary

Amazon has acquired monopoly-like market power, pocketing 44% of US online sales and disrupting entire business sectors.

Amazon garners 44% of all US online sales and its market capitalization has grown to three times that of Walmart, America’s top traditional retailer. Two business practices have enabled the online retail giant to grow so big so fast: First, Amazon has been willing to slash prices and forgo profits in exchange for investing in new services. Second, it has integrated vertically by expanding into new business areas such as book publishing, movie production, clothing design and cloud storage.

 

 

Amazon’s rapidly expanding market clout has consequences for other businesses. For example, after it acquired...

About the Author

Robinson Meyer is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he specializes in climate change and technology.