The main point isn't one action or another but, and Krugman says it clearly, that Amazon has too much power.
Modern democracies usually strive to prevent concentration of power in few hands, especially if those hands aren't elected. The market, however, does often favor concentration of power, and when that happens, democracies should protect themselves.
The US in particular has had a history of businesses gaining too much power and seriously hurting the public. This is Krugman's main point:
[Y]es, I have Amazon Prime and use it a lot. But again, so what? The desirability of new technology, or even Amazon’s effective use of that technology, is not the issue. After all, John D. Rockefeller and his associates were pretty good at the oil business, too — but Standard Oil nonetheless had too much power, and public action to curb that power was essential... The robber baron era ended when we as a nation decided that some business tactics were out of line. And the question is whether we want to go back on that decision.
Personally I think that exploitative practices by big business are making a huge comeback, in Silicon Valley in particular (see Google with privacy, Uber with workers, the SV non-poaching cartel and more). It is interesting to compare and contrast this with the Gilded Age robber barons. It's certainly not the same, but the robber barons are coming back, albeit in a new form.
Modern democracies usually strive to prevent concentration of power in few hands, especially if those hands aren't elected. The market, however, does often favor concentration of power, and when that happens, democracies should protect themselves.
The US in particular has had a history of businesses gaining too much power and seriously hurting the public. This is Krugman's main point:
[Y]es, I have Amazon Prime and use it a lot. But again, so what? The desirability of new technology, or even Amazon’s effective use of that technology, is not the issue. After all, John D. Rockefeller and his associates were pretty good at the oil business, too — but Standard Oil nonetheless had too much power, and public action to curb that power was essential... The robber baron era ended when we as a nation decided that some business tactics were out of line. And the question is whether we want to go back on that decision.
Personally I think that exploitative practices by big business are making a huge comeback, in Silicon Valley in particular (see Google with privacy, Uber with workers, the SV non-poaching cartel and more). It is interesting to compare and contrast this with the Gilded Age robber barons. It's certainly not the same, but the robber barons are coming back, albeit in a new form.