Amazon Will Take Over Government
This is a thoughtful and informative piece, but strangely it does not even mention Amazon’s relation to regulations and the federal government.
Unlike others, you do focus on the administrative elements, not just technological components:
It is not just local government at risk from the juggernaut of Amazon, and not just the bidding process that will vacuum up funds for local support systems, but it is the federal system that is at risk too.
Amazon will put up not just one building but tens of buildings. When they move to the DC area, they will rival and soon outpace the growth of federal government buildings (about 50) in the area. The number of employees (50K versus 300k) is not at the same scale, but soon most of those 300K will be indirectly working for Amazon too. Amazon’s spidery network of businesses will need regulatory relief from every aspect of the Feds, and in fact, will take over government.
This is a scary prospect for people who still naively believe that government is not run by big businesses and big money. None are bigger than Amazon. Even Apple will soon lose its leading position.
When the internet came along in 1987 it was clear to me that brick and mortar stores were finished. Here we are 30 years later and Amazon is making that prediction come true, where storefronts become warehouses manned by robots. I had no idea it would take so long: it was so obvious to me at the time, I thought every company would jump at the opportunity. But look at Sears, and see how dumb business “leaders” really are!
Can Bezos’ drive to get big fast really be tempered with civic concern. It seems most unlikely. Look at what he would have to do: The much-pilloried Richard Florida plaintively appealed to Amazon not to “accept any tax or financial incentives,” but rather to pledge to “invest alongside cities to create better jobs, build more affordable housing, and develop better schools, transit, and other badly needed public goods, along with paying its fair share of taxes.” I particularly love the fairytale notion that Bezos would pay more taxes. Ha! That is no way to get big fast, whereas the other ideas might actually be helpful to let him grow beyond government and make the US his company town. Then the world!
But perhaps his vision is bigger than mine. After all, if everyone is Amazon, then who would buy from Amazon except Amazon? What kind of economy would that be? What kind of government would that be? I dunno. Maybe Bezos knows.