There have been more losers due to China flu \u2013 than probably can ever be documented \u2013 from the over 1 million lives that have so far been lost \u2013 to the countless businesses that have either been temporarily closed from one lockdown to the next – or in many cases permanently lost \u2013 with ownership and employees facing uncertain futures.<\/p>\n
We can only mourn their loss and vow never to forget.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n But there have been winners \u2013 either from being in the right place at the right time or cynically manipulating the situation to their sole advantage.<\/p>\n It is not this articles place to judge \u2013 but to name in our view, the 3 biggest winners from this China flu pandemic \u2013 starting in reverse order, in 3rd<\/sup> \u2013 AMAZON com, inc.<\/p>\n With the lockdown in the \u201cFree World\u201d \u2013 and with Big Government insistence that retail establishments \u2013 from Ma and Pop small shops in every village and in every town to the larger establishments in every shopping centre and city \u2013 being forced to close \u2013 regardless of the true science \u2013 e-commerce that was establishing itself as a significant player in this segment \u2013 due to its ability to allow shoppers to shop from home became the \u201conly player\u201d in town.<\/p>\n And Amazon the Seattle based company \u2013 that had risen to dominance, first as an online book re-seller \u2013 whose bulk buying, low overhead business model \u2013 had decimated the traditional book stores \u2013 and had subsequently moved into an online retail hub for almost everything was perfectly set to ride the boom in online trading and delivery.<\/p>\n And it did\u2026<\/p>\n Amazon revenue for the 12 months ending on September 30th<\/sup> 2020 was $347 Billion<\/strong> (a 31% growth) with its share price virtually doubling in 6-months<\/strong> from just under $1,700 per share on March 16th<\/sup> \u2013 to trading at $3,186 on 6th<\/sup> December<\/p>\n Concerns over Amazon corporation tax payments highlighted by organisations like Fair Tax Mark and Tax Justice Network \u2013 who claim that in the last decade the two Amazon UK subsidiaries have only paid \u00a383 million<\/strong> in tax even though they had corresponding UK sales of \u00a375 Billion <\/strong>by cleverly routing sales via Luxembourg \u2013 is again not for us to comment on.<\/p>\n The fact that the EC push for tax transparency, for Amazon to legally declare how much profit and how much tax they paid in each of the 28 EC states \u2013 was blocked by Ireland and Luxembourg amongst others \u2013 illustrates clearly that the EC itself has no desire for openness \u2013 even amongst itself.<\/p>\n As true populists \u2013 who believe in small non-interfering government \u2013 we see ourselves no moral reason for corporation tax \u2013 as what has government ever done to give itself the ethical backing to ask, a plumber or a publican or an architect who had the courage to form his own company, to invest his own money, to employ local people\u2026.and maybe make a profit (but not guaranteed) \u2013 to then see the claws of Government asking for their \u201ccut\u201d.\u00a0 In our view, this is no different to paying your local Mafia clan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But what we populists do believe is wrong<\/strong> \u2013 is that Amazon has had an \u201cunfair business advantage\u201d during this pandemic.\u00a0 That their doubling of share price and 35% sales growth was NOT based on fair competition \u2013 it was based on virtually ZERO competition that had been mandated by Big Globalist Governments \u2013 who for all their pollical utterances of solidarity with the business owner \u2013 with the working people \u2013 did nothing to stop or even prevent this situation.\u00a0 Where you may find excuses during the first pandemic – that they did not have time to create a strategy \u2013 cuts no ice during the second lockdown.\u00a0 As this time, they did have ample time but chose to do nothing and instead ploughed on with decimating additional non e-commerce businesses and employees,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There have been more losers due to China flu \u2013 than probably can ever be documented \u2013 from the over 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