How Senator Warren’s Tech Proposal Can Help USPS

Senator Elizabeth Warren is capturing some pretty big headlines. On Friday, she published a piece that piece that advocated breaking up the nation’s big tech companies such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook. In the post, Senator Warren claims these corporations are monopolies that have way too much power and influence over marketplaces, politics, and the American people. According to Warren, breaking up these companies would promote more competition and foster innovation. This would create benefits for smaller businesses everywhere, and believe it or not, those benefits would trickle down to the US Postal Service.

Are the Tech Giants Too Powerful?

When faced with this question, most people would likely answer yes. Big Tech companies use mergers and proprietary marketplaces to create monopolies and limit competition. In layman’s terms, this basically means that they buy up anyone who gets in their way. As tech companies grow more powerful, they squash any competition that springs up and sell our personal data for profit. Not only do they influence how we use the Internet, but their power also extends to the US Government itself.

Senator Warren’s Suggestion: Making Big Tech Companies “Platform Utilities”

Under Senator Warren’s tech proposal, the US government would move to pass legislation that designates corporations with more than $25 billion in annual revenue as “Platform Utilities.” This would break up huge tech companies into separate divisions, which would limit their power to control…well, everything.

Warren preaches that these Platform Utilities would not be able to own both the platform and any participants on the platform, which is the current case with Amazon and Amazon Marketplace. Platform Utilities also wouldn’t be able to transfer data to third parties. Regulators and private parties could sue them for violations, which would keep these companies in line (hopefully).

How Senator Warren’s Tech Proposal Could Impact USPS

Senator Warren’s proposal would benefit USPS for two reasons. First, breaking up Amazon would help small businesses currently struggling to compete with them. Not having to compete with Amazon would also likely incentivize more people to start their own small businesses. More small businesses springing up would mean more business for USPS, since USPS is the premier shipping carrier for eCommerce. Simply put, anything that helps small businesses will ultimately help USPS.

Secondly, Amazon’s recent moves to start their own shipping network are threatening to disrupt every shipping carrier. Amazon has a long history of covering losses with profits from other parts of their business to capture market share in a certain area. Think of it like a game of chess, where you sacrifice a pawn so the queen can reach checkmate. Once Amazon has captured market share and beat out their competition, they always raise prices…without fail. To capture shipping market share, Amazon will most likely undercut UPS and FedEx, as well as—you guessed it—USPS. If Amazon were no longer allowed to compete unfairly in new markets like this, every shipping carrier would breathe a sigh of relief…USPS included.

Want to Lend Your Voice to the Cause?

If you’re feeling riled up about big tech right about now, Senator Warren’s plan is working! She’s mainly using the big tech issue as a platform to campaign for President in the upcoming 2020 election. As for whether her proposal will actually become a reality, we’ll have to wait and see if she is elected. However, you can lend your voice to the cause in the meantime. If you agree with Senator Warren’s proposal, feel free to pop over to her website and sign the petition to break up big tech.