Amazon (Part 2): The Unfulfillment Company.

In Part 1 of Amazon, the Unfulfillment Company, we reviewed Amazon’s rise from online bookseller to third largest company on the planet and well on its way to number one. The extreme focus on the customer is the centerpiece of founder Jeff Bezos’s philosophy and while it has increased consumerism and driven down prices on several categories of goods and services, it’s had big ripple effects in the wider economy and the labor market. Today’s episode picks up where we left off to examine the company’s earnings and acquisitions more closely and addresses how the company is one step ahead of efforts to break it up. We finish with some examples of victories and what must happen to contain Amazon’s influence before it becomes sentient and destroys us all. Or something like that.  Chapters Part 1 Recap: 00:00:05 Intro: 00:02:17 Chapter Four: Big, Bigger, Biggest: 00:07:26 Chapter Five: It’s a matter of antitrust: 00:18:01 Chapter Six: Tiny Victories: 00:30:53 Epilogue: Bring it home, Max: 00:35:33 Post Show Musings: 00:42:49 Know Your Bills: 00:43:16 Outro: 00:57:57 Resources Business Insider: Jeff Bezos famously embraces failure. Here are the biggest flops Amazon has overcome under his watch. The New York Times: Amazon reports slowing sales growth and indicates slowdown may continue. Marketplace Pulse: Amazon Net Sales 1996-2022 World Population Review: GDP Ranked by Country 2022 Forex Sentiment Board: 10 Largest Companies with Highest Revenue in 2022 Insider Intelligence: Amazon annual revenue breakdown by segment in 2022 The Register: Cloud a three-player market dominated by AWS, Google, Microsoft CNBC: Amazon has a $31 billion a year advertising business E Marketer: Amazon has a larger advertising business than YouTube - Insider Intelligence Trends, Forecasts & Statistics Forbes: Amazon Buys MGM For $8.5 Billion: Deal Could Be Unwound In The Future Next Big Brand: Here Is The List Of Top 10 Firms Acquired By Amazon TechCrunch: Amazon to acquire autonomous driving startup Zoox CB Insights: Visualizing Tech Giants' Billion-Dollar Acquisitions PYMNTS.com: Amazon's All-Time High US eCommerce Share: 56.7% Reveal News: Private Report Shows How Amazon Drastically Undercounts Its Carbon Footprint Congress.gov: 117th Congress (2021-2022): Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021 Book Love Alec MacGillis: Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America Pod Love Pitchfork Economics -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack at unftr.substack.com to get the essays these episode are framed around sent to your inbox every week. Check out the UNFTR Pod Love playlist on Spotify: spoti.fi/3yzIlUP. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility. Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written and hosted by Leonard Nimoy's corpse and distributed by dick rockets. Podcast art description: Image of the US Constitution ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, ‘Unf*cking the Republic.’Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.