This week started with Amazon Prime Day, the online retail giant’s annual day of discounts. But those unbelievable deals are illegal in Wisconsin, thanks to the state’s antiquated Minimum Markup law, a relic of the Great Depression, when the Amazon was just a river. The law effectively outlaws low prices in the name of protecting “mom and pop” shops. In reality, it’s an anti-free market enemy of consumers that forces Wisconsinites to pay higher prices on everything from prescription drugs to gasoline.
