No point in antitrust laws if FTC won't act

Jeff Bezos is taking Amazon down a dangerous, monopolistic path. Just last week, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it would be ending its investigation into whether or not Amazon¹s takeover of Whole Foods would be in violation of antitrust laws and would hurt competition.

Other companies are following Amazon¹s lead. AT&T¹s merger with Time Warner Cable is beginning to move forward, and over the past year Walmart has spent over $3 billion in acquisitions as well as a partnership with Google for a voice shopping experience.

Sinclair Broadcast Group continues to swallow up the media industry with its planned Tribune Media merger. If the merger goes through, Sinclair media would reach nearly 70 percent of American households.

The FTC has failed the American people by concluding its investigation. All of these mergers and acquisitions will almost certainly be catastrophic for competition within the respective industries. Smaller grocery chains such as Kroger have already felt the repercussions of Amazon¹s acquisition, with stocks falling heavily on the day that it was announced. Additionally, by refusing to hinder Amazon's jump into the grocery business, the FTC is condoning the creation of cross-industry economic giants. Robert Reich, economist and former Secretary of Labor for the Clinton administration, worries that the next logical steps for Amazon would including branches into the media and finance industries.

What¹s the point of antitrust laws if the FTC is going to allow these sorts of mergers and acquisitions to occur? These monopolistic actions must be put to an end.

Paul McDonough

Algonquin