A friend asked me about the proposed United Airlines-US Airways merger the other day. She and others wonder why the Justice Department could allow even more consolidation in the airline industry. These are the guys who thumped their chests about "protecting consumers" from evil Microsoft. I think it's pretty obvious that having even fewer airlines will harm consumers infinitely more than Microsoft ever allegedly did*. There is tons of evidence that airfares are considerably higher in hub cities where one carrier dominates. Minnesota's own hometown monopolist, Northwest Airlines, will argue that we (and Detroit) have access to many more direct flights and connections than we would if Northwest didn't control 80+% of local flights. Sorry, I don't think we're sitting in a backwater here that would dry up overnight if we had a little more competition. It isn't just the Justice Department who doesn't get it. Alan Greenspan continues to live in the past, continuing to deny that the US economy can enjoy high growth and low inflation at the same time. Maybe the huge and unexpected 6.4% drop in durable goods orders, slowdown in consumer spending, and decrease in existing home sales will calm his jitters a bit.

Whoa! Interesting action in Treasury bonds, which went to the moon at the end of the week, partly helped by a flight to quality from stocks.

*Economists make a great case that prices will go up if MSFT is broken up, and that software prices would be higher, with many fewer applications, had they not come to dominate the operating system market.