This Week in Business: Amazon Is Coming for Trump
I hope your Valentine’s Day was especially good this year. Americans were forecast to break records with their gifting on Friday, spending an average of $196.31 on their loved ones — a 21 percent increase from last year’s average of $161.96, according to the National Retail Federation. Thanks, and you’re welcome, economy! Here’s the rest of the week’s top news in business and tech.
What’s Up? (Feb. 9-15)
Amazon vs. the White House
Amazon won a victory in its legal battle with President Trump over a $10 billion cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon. The fight began last fall when Amazon, considered a shoo-in for the project, lost out to Microsoft, the market’s No. 2 provider, at the last minute. Amazon claims that Mr. Trump meddled in the decision because of his feud with Jeff Bezos, the company’s chief executive and owner of The Washington Post. Now, a judge has ordered Microsoft to halt the project until Amazon’s legal challenge is resolved. Taking things up a notch, Amazon has asked to depose Mr. Trump in the case, arguing that it’s essential to determine if he exerted “improper pressure” on the bidding process.
Coronavirus Gridlock
As the disease spread to thousands more people in China and got a new, “official” name (world, meet Covid-19), its dampening economic effects continued to spread far beyond quarantined areas. While only a few cases have turned up in Europe so far, the virus has created such a logjam in trade that economists fear it could push the slowing European economy into a full-blown downturn. Also plagued by the outbreak: the $45 billion cruise business, as would-be vacationers are scared off by horror stories about infected passenger ships stranded at sea. The art market is being squeezed, too, from the lack of Chinese patrons. The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, told Congress that he was monitoring the fallout from the outbreak “closely.”
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/16/business/amazon-trump-jedi.html?emc=rss&partner=rss