[Applejinx]

You can say that, but then where is another Amazon? People like to say these things are basically zero-friction and completely liquid, but it's not true. If you can kill all the taxis and discourage private vehicle ownership because you control 'Ubering', there will be a profound cultural habit to use YOU, 'Uber', rather than some slightly cheaper replacement.

I don't know if it's worth as many billions as it's cost so far, but it's not nothing. This is being done because a monopoly of this type is NOT so easily busted by some bright spark 'disruptor'. If nothing else, you can spend a few more billions buying whispering campaigns suggesting that the new 'disruptor' is unsafe or tainted, or simply attack them more directly, terrorize their drivers, whatever.

Even without such black tactics the notion of frictionless liquidity in market dynamics is foolish. It doesn't work that way.