There's perhaps a macroeconomic lesson here as well. Because Amazon is so large, any effort to expand quickly is going to hurt its profit margins and push up prices in the supply chain. Slowing those ambitions should both improve Amazon's profit and lead to less inflationary pressure economy-wide.
Both for Amazon and the U.S. economy as a whole, the past year has been characterized by rapid buildout of capacity to meet the demand surge that followed the reopening of the economy and multiple rounds of fiscal stimulus.
It’s been a bumpy and sometimes painful ride. But we've now made a lot of progress and the hope is that, going forward, the rush will settle down and create a smoother ride for investors, employees and consumers alike.
Conor Sen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and the founder of Peachtree Creek Investments. He's been a contributor to the Atlantic and Business Insider and resides in Atlanta.