E-Commerce is Still Going Strong

WASHINGTON – Internet commerce continues its robust growth, defying a sluggish economy that’s teetering on recession, Google’s chief economist and several analysts say.

Electronic commerce has grown about 22 percent in the last two years, said Hal Varian, the economist, who spoke at a forum on the state of the Internet economy at Google’s new Washington office. Ed Garrubbo, chairman of the Electronic Retailing Association, said online sales jumped 17 percent in the first quarter of this year.

“The lesson here is that the economic slowdown is not an Internet slowdown,” Varian said. “The Internet is looking pretty strong compared to other sectors.”

Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan tech think tank, predicted continued growth for online commerce as high-speed connections increase and “the core technologies are becoming faster and cheaper.”

“The absolute growth has been steady now for several years. The Internet economy is almost counter-recessional,” Atkinson said.

McClatchy Newspapers E-commerce still strong, despite sluggish economy

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