France’s culture minister has attacked Amazon, the online retailer, for deliberately undercutting traditional rivals to create a “quasi-monopoly”, in the latest assault by the socialist government on internet companies.What's the Goal?
“Today, everyone has had enough of Amazon which, through dumping practices, smashes prices to penetrate markets to then raise prices again once they are in a situation of quasi-monopoly,” said Aurélie Filippetti, the culture minister.
Calling Amazon a “destroyer of bookshops”, she added that she was considering a ban on free postage offers and ending the current regime of allowable 5 per cent discounts on books.
Ms Filippetti was speaking in Bordeaux where the government announced a €9m joint plan with French publishers to support independent booksellers. “This is an unprecedented effort in favour of the book and reading because without independent bookshops there will be fewer publishers and authors, less choice for the reader and fewer social networks in towns,” she said.
If the goal is to get people to read books, logic would dictate the cheaper the price the better. Kindle, Nook, and other eBook readers come to mind.
What good would banning free shipping do? Amazon could easily up shipping charges and lower the price of the book and get the same result. Of course, France would then want to dictate the price of books as well, all in the name of "preserving culture."
It's easy to spot the problem. France does not need and cannot afford a culture minister whose obvious goal is to stop the spread of technology and preserve culture as she sees fit.
But France is France. So when does this fool announce a tax on Kindle or campaign to bring back the horse and buggy?
Prepare for Economic Collapse in France
Government spending is already 56% of GDP. Hollande has threatened to take over steel, auto makers, and other industries to preserve jobs. Every month, France becomes less and less competitive. It is no wonder French unemployment soared. And unemployment will continue to rise.
Economic idiocy in France has even led to an open feud between French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. For details, please see Simmering Feud Between France and Germany Erupts Into Verbal Warfare; France Tells Brussels to Shove It
Prepare for an economic collapse in France, because it is on the way. And Germany cannot possibly carry the European economy on its own. That is yet another reason IMF Growth Estimate for Germany is Still Too Optimistic.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
