Jeff Bezos thought it would be fun to run a newspaper.
In a Washington Post column (5/22/15), Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and Third Way president Jonathan Cowan took a swipe at the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in arguing for a set of ill-defined centrist proposals. (For example, they want better schools—great idea.)
There is much about their piece that is wrong or misleading—they imply that the rebuilding of Europe and Japan impedes growth and makes us poorer; that’s not what standard trade theory says—but the best part is in the last paragraph, where they tell readers:
Nine years ago, Borders Books had more than 1,000 stores and more than 35,000 employees. Four years ago, it liquidated. Those stores didn’t close and those employees didn’t lose their jobs because the economic system was rigged against ordinary Americans. They closed because technology brought us Amazon and the Kindle.
Actually, Border Books did close in large part because the economic system is rigged against ordinary Americans. One of the main reasons Amazon has been able to grow as rapidly as it did is that Amazon has not been required to collect the same sales tax as its brick-and-mortar competitors in most states for most of its existence. The savings on sales tax almost certainly exceeded its cumulative profits since it was founded in 1994.
While there is no policy rationale to exempt businesses from the obligation to collect sales tax because they are internet-based, this exemption has allowed Amazon to become a huge company and made its founder, Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people in the world.
Oh yeah—Jeff Bezos now owns the Washington Post.
Economist Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. A version of this post originally appeared on CEPR’s blog Beat the Press (5/22/15).
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“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
The avoidance of the latter by those with wealth and power would qualify, as well.
Well to be honest, its not actually rigged against the common man; that would imply they (the billionaire Lords and Masters) actual gave a Rat ass about us, or were concerned that we might be a threat.
I don’t think it was all about the sales tax — but at any rate Amazon is now charging state sales tax.
There’s no longer any doubt about how Jeff Bezos will steer the Washington Post — all downhill from here.
I would think that “sales” tax should be paid by the seller and “buyer” tax would be paid by buyer. If a person from state A buys something from a business based in state B, than state B sales tax would apply, or state A buyers tax.