It was said in class that a monopoly is hard to define. Amazon, has only 4% of all retail sales in the US and a meagre 1% of all global retail sales. However, they control nearly 38% of all e-commerce sales in the US. One operational definition a monopolistic company is that it has complete control over the supply chain of a good or a service in a given market. As a result, it is argued that monopolies can control prices and have an adverse effect on competition. Amazon is also accused of being a monopsony (- a company that is the sole buyer of products and services. Think about shipping companies and small town warehouses that depend on Amazon for jobs. Amazon can easily exert control over what they pay for services rendered and salaries of small town employees).

Amazon also owns a number of other businesses, most notably the Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS is a behemoth "cloud commuting" company that "enables" Amazon in gathering and exploiting competitive information.

In addition, it is noteworthy that Amazon also sells third party goods. They hold all competitive information about these sellers and can squeeze them "any way" they want. (A bit like apps sold on Apple's App Store.)

Based on your specific knowledge of Anti-trust legislation (Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, in particular), take the positon that Amazon is really nothing more than a "successful" company. Be sure to defend your position by making clear and specific references to the two Acts mentioned above.