- As the digital giants (FANGs) are described by Bloomberg as not so much disrupting the economy but “eating it alive”, there is evidence of a big shift in the attitude of competition authorities in the US – if not yet in the UK
- 13D Research is predicting a shift “from wealth accumulation to wealth distribution”
- In our recently published paper Freedom to Choose, Tim Cowen argues that competition authorities should get past their narrow focus on ‘consumer welfare’ and see their role as positively promoting freedom of choice
- Tim also argues that allowing continued market consolidation “undermines faith in market economies, fueling the rise of reactionary political forces that people will welcome as a way of exercising more control of dysfunctional markets through increased regulation or nationalisation”
- Amazon has been accused of violating Californian law in expanding its wine delivery business
- It has also been claimed that there are fundamental differences between stores and online delivery in that “A real storefront has some public health and safety functions.”
- At about the same time that a local bookshop in Arlington, Virginia had to hold a silent auction to enable it to pay a 30% increase in property taxes, the same county granted a $23 million tax incentive package to Amazon for a new HQ
