Open Markets Program Statement on Amazon-Whole Foods

The following statement can be attributed to the Open Markets Program at New America:

Late yesterday the Federal Trade Commission approved Amazon’s $13.7 billion bid to purchase Whole Foods. The deal will enable Amazon to extend the extraordinary power it wields in online markets into physical retail, further concentrating control over commerce in the hands of a single giant and further endangering America’s open markets. By undermining competition in the long-term, the deal will likely harm farmers and ranchers, retail and warehouse workers, independent businesses, restaurants and chefs, and local and immigrant communities.

The most troubling aspect of the FTC’s decision is how quickly it came. The agency did not closely examine the full range of ways Amazon’s acquisition will undermine competition and harm the interests of the American public. This failure is part of a larger trend that strongly suggests the FTC does not fully grasp the realities of how competition works in 21st-century markets, where dominant platforms can entrench their power and use data in anticompetitive ways.

Even if the FTC believes that prevailing interpretations of antitrust law prevent it from blocking this particular takeover, it should have initiated a broader investigation into Amazon’s practices aimed at helping Congress understand the need for new resources or legal tools. By instead swiftly blessing Amazon’s purchase, the FTC has helped solidify Amazon’s growing grip over many of the most vital arteries of America’s economy.

For further comment: Lina Khan, an Open Markets fellow and expert on Amazon and antitrust issues, can be reached at lina.m.khan@gmail.com or 914–843–0470. Leah Douglas, an Open Markets reporter focused on concentration in food and agriculture markets, can be reached at leahjdoug@gmail.com or 917–972–3479.