Regulation
Do Americans want to break up companies like Amazon…
I was a bit surprised by this. I thought this argument was mostly the domain of the tech and political elite and that most people just liked cheap/free/fast services. If this sentiment has truly trickled to a broader swath of the electorate along with those in both parties calling for it, the tech companies are going to face a 2020 election season filled with calls to break them up. Can they weather the storm? If it does gain substantive traction (vs. just political bluster) I think there’s a long legal battle which I’m not sure the US government has great footing given how the law is written and precedent of a focus on monopolies harming consumers through price inflation. New laws may have to be passed. Facebook is in the lead position with the most scrutiny and easiest divestiture path (unwind the Instagram and Whatsapp acquisitions). Google is on deck. Will be interesting to see how politically savvy they become.
