A Silicon Valley Congressman Takes On Amazon
When Amazon announced last week that it intended to acquire the upscale grocery chain Whole Foods, it sent shockwaves through the grocery industry. Other grocers’ share prices plummeted. Analysts predicted Amazon would become a “top five” grocer within a few years. Synergies were imagined.
Within all the business chatter, however, a few policy wonks and at least one ally in Congress began to raise the antitrust alarm. They think Amazon is too powerful and might engage in anti-competitive practices.
On its face, and judged on the scale of recent jurisprudence, it’s not the most obvious antitrust situation. Amazon has a tiny slice of the grocery market. Whole Foods, large though it may loom in affluent cities, only has 1.2 percent market share. And while Amazon has a dominant position in e-commerce, e-commerce sales remain less than 10 percent of total retail receipts.
But freshman Congressman , who represents the South Bay, including a big chunk of Silicon Valley, said
