Over the years George Will, writers at the New Yorker and the Economist and John Le Carre have motivated me to increase my vocabulary. So it brings sadness for me to read how George Will, despite his command of the spoken word has resorted to sheer nonsense perhaps to punch up his work.
Mr. Will thinks “liberals mourn the passing of the days when there was one phone company, three car companies, three television networks, an airline cartel, and big labor and big business were cozy with big government.” See http://m.cjonline.com/opinion/2011-07-30/george-will-libertarian-fix.
First, I have not seen a liberal/conservative dichotomy on matters of monopolies and cartels. Second, the majority of telecom mergers, which would take us closer to a cozy oligopoly or monopoly, are goosed by rent seekers of all political persuasions. I dare say the proponents of most telecom mergers are Republican, but such party affiliation means nothing when opportunities exist to acquire market share.
Is George Will suggesting that liberals do not want to see major elements of the economy spending sleepless afternoons competing? Alas even George Will has amped up the snark and hyperbole.
From my vantage point party affiliation and even political ideology matters little when opportunities to work less hard arise. If anything political parties and individuals show little of the consistency Mr. Will infers. Recall that liberal Jimmy Carter initiated deregulation of the airlines. And the Justice Department of a former President by the name of Richard Nixon brought an antitrust suit that resulted in AT&T’s divestiture.
