Amazon's Monopsony Is Not O. K Summary

Summary

In The New York Times article titled “Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K,” journalist Paul Krugman argues that the popular online website Amazon “has too much power, and it uses that power in ways that hurt America.” He goes on to give examples of how Amazon is ruining the economy and hurting America. Krugman states that Amazon believes it is the top online sales website even though it is not. He compares Amazon’s online book sales to Standard Oil sales and states that “Standard Oil nonetheless had too much power, and public action to curb that power was essential.” Krugman then goes on to explain the huge debate between Amazon and Hachette “a major publishing house.” Amazon is accused of back stabbing Hachette due to their refusal of giving Amazon “a larger cut of the price of Hachette books it sells.” To get Hachette back, “Amazon began disrupting the publisher’s sales” by “delaying their delivery” “raising their prices” and “steering customers to other publishers.” Krugman goes on to

Where I agree with Krugman is when he explains how Amazon has hurt the sales of Hachette just because of a disagreement. In order to get back at Hachette, Amazon began planning little tactics. Krugman himself writes, “Amazon began delaying their delivery, raising their prices, and/ or steering customers to other publishers.” I cannot stand on Amazon’s side when they are purposefully hurting their customers just because of a dispute with another company. I also agree with Krugman when he explains the Amazon Prime situation. Krugman states, “both are listed as eligible for Amazon Prime… as of Sunday, it ‘usually ships in 2 to 3 weeks.’” Krugman gives a great example as to where Amazon is being selective when choosing which products to ship out first with Amazon Prime users. I believe that if someone is paying extra money for a specialty, they should receive with no questions