The current policy is a subsidy from taxpayers to Amazon at the expense of small businesses. I suppose there is a planet somewhere in the universe where this makes sense, but it doesn’t here on earth. The NYT is exactly right, Jeff Bezos is a big boy, he can pay sales taxes on his sales like every mom and pop store in the country.

–Dean Baker

Dean Baker is senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He is the author of several books, including Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer. Read more about Dean.