How Amazon raised prices to profit from the pandemic

by Alex Harman

Part 13 - Conclusion

Price gouging is an exploitive business practice that manipulates markets and takes advantage of people at their most vulnerable and desperate. While some economic theories support price gouging as a function of supply and demand, they overlook the market manipulation that occurs when gougers contribute to scarcity by hoarding.

Much of our society has decided that price gouging during an emergency is unacceptable and should be prohibited by law. Yet, despite general agreement that price gouging is wrong and a large majority of states with price gouging laws in place, the practice continues on Amazon.com.

Amazon’s leadership has made clear that they do not tolerate price gouging and that they will stop third-party sellers from taking advantage of the pandemic. However, it is clear that not only are third-party sellers engaged in price gouging, but Amazon itself is selling essential products at significant price increases, and in many cases at a much higher price than other national retailers.

It is troubling that so much effort was put into blaming third-party sellers, but so little effort was made to stop the price increases – including on the products sold by Amazon directly. Amazon is not merely a victim in the price gouging on its marketplace. It is a perpetrator.

A federal price gouging statute that augments state laws is needed to address this problem. It should be in place so that the next emergency, big or small, does not produce price gougers as this one has.

In addition, Amazon needs to make significant reforms to prevent abuse on its site, and to provide consumers with the tools necessary to identify problematic prices and report them. Amazon already has demonstrated a desire to be a leader in combating price gouging. By implementing these reforms Amazon could serve as a model for other online retailers to help prevent price gouging in the future.

During emergencies, people are scared, desperate, and in need. Price gouging is an insidious exploitation of the most vulnerable. There is no excuse for the most successful corporations preying on vulnerable consumers by price gouging.

***

Source, links, references:

https://www.citizen.org/article/prime-gouging/

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Comments

Capitalism & Genocide - Yanis Varoufakis Speech at the Gaza Tribunal, 23rd October 2025, Istanbul

Yanis Varoufakis On 23rd October, Yanis Varoufakis testified in front of the Jury of Conscience in the context of the Gaza Tribunal. His speech focused on the economic forces underpinning the genocide of the Palestinian people. In particular, he spoke on the manner in which capitalist dynamics have historically fuelled the white settler colonial project and, more recently, how the accumulation of a new form of capital - which he calls cloud capital - has accelerated, deepened and amplified the economic forces powering and propelling the machinery of genocide.

Exposed: USA plans to use this country to hurt China & help Israel

Geopolitical Economy Report In Cold War Two, the USA is pressuring countries to cut ties with China and recognize Taiwan separatists. Donald Trump blatantly meddled in Honduras' 2025 election and backed a political coup to put in power right-wing oligarch Nasry "Tito" Asfura, who strongly supports Taiwan and Israel. Ben Norton discusses US imperialism in Latin America.

Mossad ‘in contact from very beginning’ with killers of Italian PM, reporter reveals

A roving reporter who covered Italy’s top politicians explains to The Grayzone how his country was reduced to a joint US-Israeli “aircraft carrier,” and raises troubling questions about an Israeli role in the killing of Prime Minister Aldo Moro. by Kit Klarenberg and Wyatt Reed Part 7 - Mossad continues Italian ops amid Gaza genocide Today, there is little trace of any pro-Arab tendencies in mainstream Italian politics. According to Salerno, the US and Israel no longer have any need to “destabilize Italy” as the country is economically “weak.” Rome’s government now is for all intents and purposes “a continuation, even an extension, of the old fascist regime,” he says, adding, “there are people in the government that have statues of Mussolini in their houses.” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made clear she harbors little sympathy for the Palestinians, and little intention of recognizing a Palestinian state – even after it was revealed in November 2024 the Mossad ha...

Varoufakis: IT technologies will overthrow Capitalism

globinfo freexchange The former Greek Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis, ended his recent speech on the Future of Capitalism, at the New School, New York, with some interesting remarks. As he said: The world we live in, is increasingly rudderless, in a constant slow burning recession, while at the very same time, the increasing concentration in the IT sector is creating the new technologies that will do that which the Left has failed to do: overthrow Capitalism. It is really very simple. The moment machines pass the Turing test properly, and you pick up the phone and you do not know whether the person you are talking to is a human being or a machine ˙ the moment we are going to have 3D printers operating as public utilities - you can send any blueprint to it and it can print from one pin to a motorcycle, or to a car - the moment that this happens, we have not just a process of Schumpeterian creative destruction, but we have a process where economies of sc...

Neoliberal establishment will attempt to take control of the evangelical electoral army using its most powerful asset for such an operation: Joe Biden

globinfo freexchange Here is another strong indication about the theory we support, according to which Trump, Brexit and other far-right governments in power, are primarily the product of a merciless civil war of the big capital. Politico 's article subtitle tells you almost everything you need to know: The president’s supporters worry Biden can grab a larger slice of a critical voting bloc — when Trump can least afford departures from his base. Let's take a look at some interesting parts [most important highlighted]: It was June 10, 2008. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama had gathered with dozens of evangelical leaders — many of them fixtures of the religious right — at the urging of campaign aides. If he could offer genuine glimpses of his own abiding faith, they insisted he could chisel away at the conservative Christian voting bloc. The strategy worked. Obama’s campaign stops at churches, sermon-like speeches and hi...

Maduro's opening to China

“ Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said he hopes Venezuela will use bilateral financing mechanisms and channel more funds to the areas of energy, mining, agriculture and industry while meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.” “ Financing mechanisms between the two countries total more than 50 billion U.S. dollars, according to Venezuelan experts. Financing mechanisms, including the China-Venezuela Fund, have provided financial support for some 256 projects. China and Venezuela upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Xi's visit to Venezuela in 2014, opening a new chapter in bilateral ties.” “ During their meeting, Xi called on the two sides to push bilateral ties to a higher-level. China supports Venezuela's efforts in restructuring its economy and establishing a manufacturing economic model, he said. Xi suggested the two countries push forward cooperation in the fields of oil exploration, infrastru...

Putin’s War BOMBSHELL Destroys Trump’s Ukraine Plan

Danny Haiphong Vladmir Putin has dropped a huge bombshell on Trump and his plan to end the Ukraine conflict on terms favorable to the US & NATO says former CIA analyst Larry Johnson & Patrick Henningsen. This video breaks down the truth about the conflict the neocons in the European and US establishment don't want you to know.

Trump ADMITS U.S. Just Wants Venezuela's Oil!

Lee Camp - Unredacted Tonight Trump has stripped away the usual pretense of democracy promotion and humanitarian concern regarding Venezuela, revealing a far more transactional objective: oil. Lee Camp connects Trump's admission to a long-standing campaign of economic pressure and political destabilization, in a strategic imperative for a global power seeking to secure its financial architecture.

Racing Extinction

suggested by failedevolution.blogspot 18th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Scientists predict that humanity’s footprint on the planet may cause the loss of 50% of all species by the end of the century. They believe we have entered the sixth major extinction in Earth’s history, following the fifth great extinction which took out the dinosaurs. Our era is called the Anthropocene, or “Age of Man,” because evidence shows that humanity has sparked a cataclysmic change of the world’s natural environment and animal life. Yet, we are the only ones who can stop the change we have created. The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), the group behind the Academy Award-winning film The Cove, is back with a new groundbreaking documentary. Joined by new innovators, this highly charged, impassioned collective of activists brings a voice to the thousands of species teetering on the very edge of life. The director has crafted an ambitious mission to clearly and artfu...

This is Trump's new plan for US global dominance

Geopolitical Economy Report The Donald Trump administration revealed the US empire's new plan for global dominance in the 2025 National Security Strategy. The goal is to impose hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, reviving the colonial Monroe Doctrine, to move supply chains out of Asia and bring manufacturing into Latin America via "nearshoring", in order to economically decouple from China and prepare for conflict in Cold War Two. Ben Norton analyzes the important document.

the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

Search This Blog