Beyond wasting taxpayer dollars, the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) most recent lawsuit against Amazon raises many questions and concerns. The FTC alleges Amazon is using its monopoly power to engage in anti-competitive practices, but if practices like charging fees, producing and preferencing one’s products over competitors, and tying some platform features to others may seem intuitively self-serving, it is because they are. They are intrinsic to making the Amazon ecosystem what it is. Amazon’s practices benefit consumers and retailers by enabling the features they seek in a digital marketplace.
Will consumers be worse off under the current system than under the alternative?
