Jeff Bezos's $150 Billion Fortune is a Policy Failure

[Cassandra]

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/08/the-problem-with-bezos-billions/566552/

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[OSR stands with Israel]

He does not have 150 billion in Cash or even anything close to that.


I also am sure that if Bezos tried to sell all his stock he wouldnt even receive 1/5th or maybe even 1/10 of what his stock is worth right now.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Net worth is only a reliable number when taking part in dick waving contests among the wealthy and their gross poser wannabe Republican peasantry.

I used to rail against Wal-Mart "they're moving into the outskirts of every town and killing the 'mom and pop' stores."  If you had told me in 2005 that Wal-Mart would eventually be eaten by someone better than them at the same game.. I would've scoffed and insisted Wal-Mart would probably just be that monster.

But it wasn't.  It was an online bookstore known for surviving the dot-com bust.

And the same people will come up with the same arguments again.  Of course we gave him the money.  We shopped/shop at Amazon.  In droves.  And they invested that money into building a gargantuan system.  Should we have forcibly curtailed the company from folding their profits back into expansion and investment?

Should we just insist on creating some "moral standard" that means we must shop at myriad separate websites for our goods?  Insist we must go to brick and mortar retailers?  Or should we take the stock that Bezos owns and redistribute it?

Until he sells the stock or liquidates his assets, he's not really worth $150bn.  That is all made up value.. the most of which was printed hot off the press from the banks and assigned to Amazon.

[136or142]

He treats his workers poorly but he also built his business the right way by investing in long term growth while resisting demands for short term quarterly profits.  Bezos is both an FF and an HP.

[Beet]

The problem is the type of business he is in tends to foster natural monopoly, if left unchecked. The same was true, by the way, of Wal-Mart. Amazon musculing in on department stores isn't one company out-competing another. It's one industry replacing another. Okay. Nothing wrong with that. The fax machine is going out of date, too. But what is the nature of within-industry competition? What is Amazon doing within the online retailing space? They are engaging in anti-competitive behavior. That's the problem. Then you have to ask what the solution is. You either break it up, or regulate it as a monopoly.

https://www.thenation.com/article/amazon-doesnt-just-want-to-dominate-the-market-it-wants-to-become-the-market/

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

The problem is the type of business he is in tends to foster natural monopoly, if left unchecked. The same was true, by the way, of Wal-Mart. Amazon musculing in on department stores isn't one company out-competing another. It's one industry replacing another. Okay. Nothing wrong with that. The fax machine is going out of date, too. But what is the nature of within-industry competition? What is Amazon doing within the online retailing space? They are engaging in anti-competitive behavior. That's the problem. Then you have to ask what the solution is. You either break it up, or regulate it as a monopoly.

https://www.thenation.com/article/amazon-doesnt-just-want-to-dominate-the-market-it-wants-to-become-the-market/

Yes and no. The thing about retail is that it has a remarkably low barrier to entry, and not much about it is copywrightable. Sears was like Amazon a century ago, but they collapsed and were replaced without much of a fight. This isn't an industry Amazon can get a lock on and jack up the prices, because if they do, someone else can just sell the same products for less.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The problem is the type of business he is in tends to foster natural monopoly, if left unchecked. The same was true, by the way, of Wal-Mart. Amazon musculing in on department stores isn't one company out-competing another. It's one industry replacing another. Okay. Nothing wrong with that. The fax machine is going out of date, too. But what is the nature of within-industry competition? What is Amazon doing within the online retailing space? They are engaging in anti-competitive behavior. That's the problem. Then you have to ask what the solution is. You either break it up, or regulate it as a monopoly.

https://www.thenation.com/article/amazon-doesnt-just-want-to-dominate-the-market-it-wants-to-become-the-market/

Yes and no. The thing about retail is that it has a remarkably low barrier to entry, and not much about it is copywrightable. Sears was like Amazon a century ago, but they collapsed and were replaced without much of a fight. This isn't an industry Amazon can get a lock on and jack up the prices, because if they do, someone else can just sell the same products for less.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

He does not have 150 billion in Cash or even anything close to that.


I also am sure that if Bezos tried to sell all his stock he wouldnt even receive 1/5th or maybe even 1/10 of what his stock is worth right now.

LOL, the idea that Amazon would go down 80-90% because someone sold 15% of its stock is absurd.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

He does not have 150 billion in Cash or even anything close to that.


I also am sure that if Bezos tried to sell all his stock he wouldnt even receive 1/5th or maybe even 1/10 of what his stock is worth right now.

LOL, the idea that Amazon would go down 80-90% because someone sold 15% of its stock is absurd.

If Bezos started selling all his stock without explanation, it certainly would go down hard, tho probably not to that extreme.

[Beet]

The problem is the type of business he is in tends to foster natural monopoly, if left unchecked. The same was true, by the way, of Wal-Mart. Amazon musculing in on department stores isn't one company out-competing another. It's one industry replacing another. Okay. Nothing wrong with that. The fax machine is going out of date, too. But what is the nature of within-industry competition? What is Amazon doing within the online retailing space? They are engaging in anti-competitive behavior. That's the problem. Then you have to ask what the solution is. You either break it up, or regulate it as a monopoly.

https://www.thenation.com/article/amazon-doesnt-just-want-to-dominate-the-market-it-wants-to-become-the-market/

Yes and no. The thing about retail is that it has a remarkably low barrier to entry, and not much about it is copywrightable. Sears was like Amazon a century ago, but they collapsed and were replaced without much of a fight. This isn't an industry Amazon can get a lock on and jack up the prices, because if they do, someone else can just sell the same products for less.

What they do is jack up the prices until someone tries to sell the same product for less. Then they jack down the prices until "someone" goes out of business. Then they jack it back up again. Once this happens a few times, prospective "someones" start to realize it's futile. Sure, to some extent, the same could have been said of Sears back in the day. From mom-and-pop stores to department stores, chains, supercenters, and now online market places, gradual consolidation has been the name of the game for retail for over 100 years. The trend is towards ever greater centralization. Thus, monopolistic practices will steadily grow in power.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Net worth is for the most part a meaningless measure.

Imagine a doctor walking to their hospital to start their shift. The doctor just finally finished their residency and was hired on and offered a $200k salary. They still have six figures of med school debt, credit card debt from then not paid off, and haven't moved out of their mediocre studio apartment yet though they intend to buy a house in the net two years. On the way they encounter a homeless person, and throw a $10 bill in the homeless person's begging box.

That homeless person now has more net worth than the doctor. And about 40% of American households.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

He does not have 150 billion in Cash or even anything close to that.


I also am sure that if Bezos tried to sell all his stock he wouldnt even receive 1/5th or maybe even 1/10 of what his stock is worth right now.

LOL, the idea that Amazon would go down 80-90% because someone sold 15% of its stock is absurd.

If Bezos started selling all his stock without explanation, it certainly would go down hard, tho probably not to that extreme.

Maybe 20%.

[rob in cal]

One thing we can all agree on, Jeff Bezos is no longer worth 150 billion on paper.

[OSR stands with Israel]

One thing we can all agree on, Jeff Bezos is no longer worth 150 billion on paper.

Its 114.9 Billion now: https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/#279bcb1a1b23

[Izzyeviel]

Too bad Republicans don't think rich people should pay taxes. His taxes could pay for thousands of homeless vets to be given homes.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Too bad Republicans don't think rich people should pay taxes. His taxes could pay for thousands of homeless vets to be given homes.

[Continential]

Too bad Republicans don't think rich people should pay taxes. His taxes could pay for thousands of homeless vets to be given homes.