Even Amazon must heed the basic laws of politics and economics | Larry Elliott

Giant's minimum wage rise is down to a looming labour shortage and more stick from politicians, from Trump and Sanders to Corbyn

Amazon is a trillion-dollar company run by the world's richest man. It has come from nowhere to be an online behemoth in less than one-quarter of a century. Yet even the biggest company, this behemoth of behemoths, is vulnerable to concerted political pressure and has to live with the basic laws of demand and supply.

That, put simply, is the explanation for Amazon's announcement of seriously big increases in minimum wages for its workers in the US and Britain. On the other side of the Atlantic, no worker will be earning less than $15 (11.50) an hour - double the federal minimum. Here, the minimum has been raised by 28% for workers in London and 18% for those in the rest of the UK.