The Epoch Times’ senior investigative reporter discusses the suit, and what kind of effect it could have with future legal matters.
Per this report from The Epoch Times, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched antitrust case against Amazon late last month, noting that the corporate company’s “ongoing pattern of illegal conduct blocks competition, allowing it to wield monopoly power to inflate prices, degrade quality, and stifle innovation for consumers and businesses.”
But critics say this suit is very different from accepted antitrust law, which follows the “consumer welfare standard” and asks if consumers are harmed by the company’s actions. FTC Chair Lina Khan has argued that antitrust law has been too focused on consumer welfare and that other standards should be applied including “our interests as workers, producers, entrepreneurs, and citizens.”
Critics say that such a broad standard would give the government tremendous leeway to target private companies.
Speaking with the Epoch Times, Robert Bork Jr., president of the Antitrust Education Project, said the suit is “at its heart illogical. How can a company that leads retail in offering the lowest prices also be the leader in raising prices? The complaint that many sellers pay up to half of their total (income) to Amazon overlooks the fact that many of these small sellers would have no market at all without Amazon or something like it.”
Khan’s move could redefine U.S. antitrust law as we know it, with Bork noting that if she wins her case in court, “she will have enacted a new progressive paradigm in antitrust in which anyone can be sued for anything.”
Joining us now is Kevin Stocklin, the author of the article, to provide his business expertise on the matter.
Q&A:
- How is the FTC’s suit against Amazon a departure from accepted antitrust law? Is the FTC likely to win its case in court?
- How does this FTC action fit with other attempts by the Biden administration (EPA, SEC, Federal Reserve, etc.) to control private companies from Washington DC?
- Does this suit fit a pattern of bending accepted practices to pursue a progressive agenda?
- Why is the FTC targeting Amazon, as opposed to other companies that may be acting in a way that is more harmful to consumers, like the four companies that control meat processing or big tech companies that have censored speech?
- Why is the ESG movement, which aligns most of Wall Street against the coal, oil and gas industry, not facing antitrust investigations?
- You recently produced a new documentary called The Shadow State, which discusses the impact of the ESG market. Tell us more about it and what it’s done for business over the past few years.
- Where can people view The Shadow State? We understand there’s also a DVD available?
- The Shadow State is available right now on Epoch TV. Those interested in purchasing the DVD can do so here.
- Where can we find your recent article about this subject on The Epoch Times, as well as other works you’ve written?
- You can find my profile page here, with all my recently written articles, including a piece on the insurers’ ESG agenda.
About Kevin Stocklin:
Kevin Stocklin is a writer, film producer, and former investment banker. He wrote and produced We All Fall Down: The American Mortgage Crisis, a 2008 documentary on the collapse of the U.S. mortgage finance system.
CONTACT: Jerry McGlothlin at: geraldmcg@outlook.com or 919-437-0001.
