Does Amazon Need to Be So Highly Regulated?

Here is an article on thestreet.com that highlights Amazon's (and others) efforts to go against states levying taxes on their services. No surprise here, but, it is great that companies are banding together to fight for their own interests, against this sort of marketplace disruption ( which ultimatly makes us less efficient of an economy). In the event that legislation of this nature would pass in all states, it would make big box book sellers more competitive, thus, wasting a tremendous amount of resources and time belonging to the consumer.

Here is a brief synopopsis: Every time that I buy something on Amazon (AMZN), I not only save a trip to the book store (sometimes multiple ones, if they don't have what I want), but I also get the option of buying the book- used from some mom and pop used book store; on the cheap too! In addition, I am able to get all sorts of reviews on books and a great recommendation list from the website. I can also add items I want to a centralized wishlist, where, people can gift me things that I actually want, rather than guessing at it. The list of advantages goes on and on...

In the spirit of it being my country's independence day, I will also throw out an anti-tax/anti-regulation thought:

If people so vigorously oppose taxing and regulation of anything related to the internet (which seems to be how the public thinks), then why would they support the taxing and regulation of anything else?

It seems to me that we don't need regulation to protect me from Amazon.com, since, if they screw up, I will go to some other online vendor. This being the case, why would I need protection from the evil oil conglomerates (pollution being a property issue), Wal-Mart (WMT), or even food producers (both similar to AMZN)? While certainly, we need some government to keep us from killing each other (to quite literally protect life, liberty, and property), it does seem that we have way too much intervention...

To highlight this, let's take a look at the first 15 minutes of my day: using the alarm on my cell phone to wake up, I just paid direct taxes at times; once for the power the phone uses and the other for the usage fee of the cell service (which controlls the phone's clock)... I get out of my bed, of which, it is a crime for me to remove the tag of. I then shower, brush my teeth, and take a vitamin; the government regulates that, too- water quality, water company ownership, and the FDA regulating the toothpaste and vitamin. God only knows the amount of regulation that is dealt with if I choose to eat breakfast that morning...

Really, it's pretty absurd.

Happy 4th of July. To any readers in England; thanks for putting up far too little of a fight roughly 230 years ago ;-)

Comments

[John100:]

I agree with the sentiment entirely. It seems every state and local government is going after Amazon for taxes, which is unfortunate. The fact that how-much-you-see-is-ho... (in most cases, not all) is one of the factors (one of many) that have heped Internet e-commerce to thrive. Let's make sure it continue to thrive. You can't punish Amazon for being successful.

Speaking of which, I found an interesting way to get free shipping and find discounted items on Amazon. It's especially helpful when you are just a buck or two short of free shipping. You can find it at
www.uberi.com

It's on the right side of the page where you can find so called "filler items" to get free shipping on Amazon. There is also a discount table for Amazon through the top menu. I have found both to be quite useful. Have fun with it. :)

Jul 05 01:22 PM

[PeterB:]

I for one am glad that my local water supply is regulated, since it protects me from the kind of cholera epidemics that used to devastate the populations of major cities like London just 150 years ago. And that the sewage system treats the outflow from me and my neighbors. Especially those upstream.
And I am glad that the local governments collect taxes to pay for the education of the future workers who will keep the economy going, so I can continue to get Social Security and my other retirement investments will continue to have value.
Of course it would be nice if such things could be provided free, but that is quite unrealistic. My relatives and friends who work in schools and government agencies, and their colleagues, need food and shelter too.
Now that Internet commerce, which has mostly so far escaped the normal taxation methods, has become a significant fraction of all commerce, there must be some method to replace the taxes so lost.
The intellectual underpinning of the American Revolution was largely based on the avoidance of taxation without representation, a principle well established in Britain at the time, but not extended to the colonies. It's success was followed by a revolt, "Shays Rebellion", based on economic problems, finally leading to the Constitutional Convention, to establish a stronger government.
Fortunately for most of us, probably even John100.

Jul 06 12:53 AM