Implied Threat

Donald Trump has no love for Jeff Bezos and his on-line retailing behemoth, Amazon. Since Bezos personally bought the Washington Post, this newspaper has been going after Trump tooth and nail. And Trump, in return, has implied that Amazon is too big for its britches and is an antitrust threat to much of American retailing. Enter Jack Ma and his Ali Baba corporation which is in roughly the same business in China that Amazon is in in the United States ... and has had designs on expanding it's empire here. So Trump invites Ma to Trump tower where he poses with Ma who pledges to create 1 million jobs in America ... see: CNBC Story.

Although Ali Baba moves more on-line merchandise, Amazon, because of its different business model, has higher revenue. Here is a comparison of the financial performance of these two companies: NASDAQ Article.

This meeting suggest that Trump is once again picking winners and losers in American business ... something I was very critical of Obummer for doing. And even though Amazon probably does need to be reined in somewhat, I am I little chary of Trump playing Teddy Roosevelt and going after this particular corporate excess. But I also feel that Amazon does pose a systemic threat to American industry. (I need to be more decisive.)