What it was is essentially a supply chain management system... Something every big coorporation does today -- some of them on a scale comparable to a nation state.
Yeah, Amazon has a system to determine the most cost-effective shipping, including where to ship from to begin with, and even shipping the same item even if it belongs to another seller, if it is easier to ship.
It's not just a greedy algorithm like a market system to get the lowest costs for the first orders only.
I am not arguing for that, they should when the economic situation demands it. And they should be equally eager to drop it when the situation changes. I am all for more pragmatism and less ideology in terms of economic policy decisions, its not a one-way street.
It's not just a greedy algorithm like a market system to get the lowest costs for the first orders only.