Amazon's Tax Breaks Are Essential to Its Survival

An NYT article on the battle between Amazon and Hachette, a major publisher, told readers that:

"Thanks to Wall Street’s unwavering support, Amazon could afford to sell books for what it paid for them — something no physical bookseller could do."

While the willingness of investors to pay large amounts of money for the stock of a company that makes little or no profit has been important to Amazon's success, it is also worth noting that through most of its existence it has been exempt from the...