My 2 cents: I read recently that a top Microsoft lawyer is moving over to head the ABA's anti-trust section. I recall that there was an exchange of staff between Microsoft and the DOJ just after their settlement in 2001. Also, consider the Tunney Act proceeding wherein the judge was supposed to consider "public interest". I think there were about 30,000 negative comments. Tunney himself commented that the intent of the act was being frustrated. I don't have any empirical evidence, but I think there is a pattern. Possibly, there is a rational purpose, such as making US firms more competitive in global markets, but I suspect it's just crony capitalism.
Peter Hollings -----Original Message----- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eugene Coyle Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 5:14 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L] The economy - a new era? Has the US economy entered a new era? It seems to me that the US Department of Justice, along with other relevant agencies, has lost interest in enforcing antitrust laws. I think we are back to the 1880s and 1890s, where "Trusts" and "pools" will rationalize capacity for the good of all? Banks and insurance companies agglomerate. Electric power generation is falling into fewer and fewer hands, and those hands are more and more financial institutions. Big oil gets bigger. Big steel consolidates while the steel market sags. ADM and Cargill thrive while the number of farmers shrinks. Am I generalizing from the worst possible input, anecdotal evidence? I've always loved anecdotal evidence -- I continue to believe what is before my eyes. I believed that smoking cigarettes caused lung cancer. I still do, actually. But clue me in: Are we moving to tight oligopoly everywhere in our economy? PEN-l doesn't much discuss economics, as Michael complains. But when it does, it discusses macro. Anybody looking at market structure? Gene Coyle
