Investors seem to believe that at any minute, Bezos and Amazon could simply take their foot off the gas, cut down on expenditures and investments, and ramp up prices and fees across the board. And then profits would flow like a stream. At the moment, the reasoning goes, they’re just not choosing to do so because investors aren’t demanding it and because there is so much to be gained in the long term by gaining market share and customer loyalty in the short term. Bezos is not yet 50, after all, and his time horizon as CEO could stretch for another 30 years.

That’s entirely possible. But it’s also entirely possible that such moves could backfire, or tamp down growth, or that a global economic hiccup could push demand down. And it’s entirely possible that another Jeff Bezos in Brazil or Malaysia or India is concocting a set of business models aimed at doing to Amazon what Amazon aimed to do to Barnes & Noble and Borders.