Friday, October 10, 2014

Amazon's Monopoly Must Be Broken Up: A Radical Plan for the Tech Giant | New Republic

Excerpt from an extensive call for "a robust regulatory state"
"In other words, we’re all enjoying the benefits of these corporations far too much to think hard about distant dangers. Besides, the ideology of Silicon Valley suggests that we have nothing much to fear: If these firms no longer engineer breathtaking technologies, they will be creatively destroyed. That’s why Peter Thiel, the creator of PayPal, has argued that the term “monopoly” should be stripped of its negative connotation. A monopoly, he argues, is really nothing more than a synonym for a highly successful company. Insulation from the brutish spirit of competition even makes them superior organizations—more beneficent employers, better able to both daydream and think clearly. In Thiel’s phrasing: “Creative monopolies aren’t just good for the rest of society; they’re powerful engines for making it better.”"
Amazon's Monopoly Must Be Broken Up: A Radical Plan for the Tech Giant | New Republic

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