Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sat down for an interview with CNBC on Wednesday to discuss a wide array of issues. One of them was Amazon.
“Sexy Steve” stated that Amazon has destroyed U.S. retail, even though the website controls about eight percent of all American retail.
“If you look at Amazon, although there are certain benefits to it, it destroyed the retail industry across the United States, so there’s no question they’ve limited competition,” he said.
“There’s areas where they’ve really hurt small businesses, so I don’t think this is a one-size-fits-all, and I don’t have an opinion going in other than I think it’s absolutely right that the attorney general is looking into these issues and I look forward to listening to his recommendations to the president.
When asked about the Justice Department’s antitrust division plans to scrutinize technology platforms, Mnuchin said that it is “very good that the attorney general is going to look into this.”
But has Amazon destroyed competition?
It seems like Amazon has actually increased competition as more companies and brands use the website to sell their products. This makes it easier to bring something to market and access a new consumer base.
Meanwhile, he discussed the U.S. dollar and noted that he will not advocate a weak dollar policy in the near term.
“I think the dollar is the reserve currency of the world. It’s in our interest; we want to maintain it,” Mnuchin stated.
“A stable dollar is very important and over the long-term period of time I do believe in a strong dollar, which signifies a strong U.S. economy, a strong stock market and particularly because of the president’s economic policies.”
Here is the full interview:
Leave a Comment