Amazon (Part 2): The Unfulfillment Company.
Unf*cking The Republic
UNFTR Media
4.9 • 683 Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2022
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Previously on Un-Fucking the Republic. |
| 0:07.5 | Jeffrey Bezos, Jeffrey Bezos, Jeffrey Bezos, you did it. |
| 0:17.0 | You know, I think that was a moment where publisher started to realize, oh, wait a minute, like, they're our partner, but they now have the beginnings of a boot on our windpipe. |
| 0:27.5 | The $230 billion corporation with a multi-billion dollar profit margin would have to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 million a year. |
| 0:39.3 | Amazon was pissed. |
| 0:42.3 | Amazon workers walked out the door to protest conditions at the warehouse in Romulus. |
| 0:48.3 | They say they are scared for their own health. |
| 0:50.3 | As the New York Times reported in a special investigation last year, quote, |
| 0:54.8 | even before the pandemic, previously unreported data shows Amazon lost about 3% of its hourly associates each week, |
| 1:03.7 | meaning the turnover among its workforce was roughly 150% a year. |
| 1:10.2 | The company built on disdain for the government, |
| 1:13.3 | was operating warehouses, |
| 1:15.3 | subsidized by state governments, |
| 1:17.1 | and filled with employees |
| 1:18.8 | that required supplemental food benefits to survive |
| 1:21.8 | and who could now redeem them on Amazon. |
| 1:28.3 | The war of words between Jeff Bezos and the White House escalated on Monday, with the two |
| 1:34.8 | sparring over the Biden administration's handling of inflation and its plans to tax the rich. |
| 1:40.8 | Local municipalities don't even realize the double-dip damage that they're doing to their own communities |
| 1:45.9 | by accepting these warehouses and fulfillment centers. |
| 1:50.0 | By giving them subsidies and incentives, they're robbing the local coffers right off the bat. |
| 1:56.0 | So when these centers come into town, Amazon can immediately jump in to offer prime service to the community. |
... |
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