Amazon has been a positive force in the U.S. economy

Letter to The NY Times.

"In his book “Fulfillment,” Alec MacGillis follows a preconceived — and false — narrative about Amazon’s impact on the U.S. economy, at the expense of the facts. Xiaowei Wang’s review (April 4), like the book, somehow casts Amazon in the role of villain, ignoring the fact that Amazon has been a positive force in the U.S. economy, creating 400,000 much-needed jobs last year alone.

The truth is that Amazon has helped lift communities across this country with industry-leading pay and benefits — including a starting wage of at least $15 an hour — and invested billions in Covid-related initiatives to keep employees safe and deliver for our communities. We’ve invested more than $350 billion in the United States over the last decade, and have created millions of jobs through our investment and our support for small businesses and entrepreneurs using AWS, running delivery companies, building Alexa skills or selling in our stores. In fact, almost 60 percent of all physical product sales in our store are from small businesses.

Jay Carney
Seattle

The writer is senior vice president for global corporate affairs at Amazon."