A controversial policy would effectively charge sellers when Amazon’s logistics team loses or damages their goods. It could enable Amazon to undercut rivals with its own brands.
retail
Posted inEconomic Policy
FTC Revives 1930s Law in Suing Alcohol Distributor
The Robinson-Patman Act, dormant for decades, is invoked in a case alleging that Southern Glazer’s favored big-box stores over independent rivals.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Amazon Still Has a Counterfeit Problem
Hundreds of generic ink cartridges are listed on the site with the same packaging look as brand-name competitors.
Posted inVideos
The Prospect Weekly Roundup: The Underbelly of the Grocery Store
Nothing you see on the shelves is there by accident.
Posted inEconomic Policy
War in the Aisles
Monopolies across the grocery supply chain squeeze consumers and small-business owners alike. Big Data will only entrench those dynamics further.
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Urge to Surge
Businesses are hiking prices to take advantage of consumers. They learned it from Uber.
Posted inEconomic Policy
One Person One Price
Digital surveillance and customer isolation are individualizing the prices we pay.
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Raiding of Red Lobster
The bankrupt casual restaurant chain didn’t fail because of Endless Shrimp. Its problems date back to monopolist seafood conglomerates and a private equity play.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Challenge to Fashion Merger Shows a New Antitrust Philosophy in Action
The bid to block a tie-up between two fashion conglomerates goes beyond consumer prices, and looks at market competition and labor harms.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Pandemic-Era Corporate Bullying
The Federal Trade Commission found that big retailers threatened to punish suppliers unless they got first dibs on food and household goods.