Well, of course, the deregulation of the electrical energy system in California was an unmitigated disaster. Particularly revealing were the taped conversations between Enron energy traders, as they reveled in gouging "Grandma Millie". Very amusing that Arnie is thinking of reviving this aborted experiment.

Can't say too much for airline deregulation either. Before deregulation, I actually looked forward to/enjoyed air travel. The last time I flew to a conference in the Caribbean from California, two elbows were shoved into me from either side (I was in a middle seat) and all I could say over and over was: "This is a piece of cake". They say it's much cheaper to fly now, and this may be so. Still, it's no improvement if I do everything possible to avoid flying - anywhere.

-- Modified on 6/6/2004 3:34:15 PM

The last time I traveled by air was before 9/11, but it now sounds from your and other descriptions like it has all the attractiveness of a Mexican bus ride coupled with elements of the movie "Casablanca" (e.g., where are those 'letters of transit'?). There were some fairly goofy proposals from the Office of Homeland Security wanting to ban lines of 3 (or more people) waiting to use the bathroom, on the supposition that they may be plotting to storm the cockpit. I wonder if that proposal went anywhere?

Then too, it's pretty unhealthy in the cabin these days. To save fuel, my understanding is that they heavily recirculate the air. These can lead to ready transmission of viruses, especially SARS, if it should break out again from China. Also, there have been some studies indicating that sitting for extended periods in those cramped seats can produce injury-producing thrombi.

Instead of giving subsidies to these nearly-bankrupt airlines, why aren't we putting more support into AMTRAK?

...  I'm saying this as a man who lost a decent career position in telecom because of deregulation.  Consumers benefit whenever the share of income they have to pay to buy something falls from what it was before (it's the definition).  

It's easy to "run the #s" and show that this has indeed happened in transportation, telecom, energy (outside California), ,,,  Regulation costs a lot.  Those costs tend to increase over time because eventually regulators and suppliers get cozy when the supplier realizes the real decision maker is the regulator.  The consumer never wins.

Regulation may be necessary to protect health and safety or to maintain social values.  They may also result in more uncomfortable flights, poor service, and telephone salesman who call you at night.  Still, you are traveling for less, talking for less, ...  Companies make it up by selling more goods and services or selling new services.

All those who want to go back to paying $0.40 / min for a long distance phone call, please raise their hands.

Harry

Well, at least with the "Do Not Call List", I'm getting fewer telephone solicitations for me to exchange service.

-- Modified on 6/6/2004 10:02:41 PM

Airline service WAS made more affordable for the general public BY FAR by deregulation.  The problem for the Industry is that it is very capital intensive, and they cannot easily and cost-effectively adjust for a systemic and sudden drop in demand as was caused by 9/11.  The problem NOW, is that there is a layer of RE-REGULATION imposed on the industry in the name of security (or at least, to give the public the impression of security), that puts severe restrictions on the services offerred.  It is now no longer worthwhile to fly somewhere less than 250-300 miles, because of the security overhead that has been imposed that is the SAME for short haul flights as for long haul flights, despite the fact that nobody has ever hijacked a commuter flight.  In a truly de-regulated free market, carriers could continue to serve these markets efficiently, but the Airline industry has, for all intents and purposes, NOT been de-regulated since 9/11.

Harry , I worked for Ma Bell from 1956 to 1989 , its true long distance has gone down but POTS ( plain old telephone service ) has risen greatly and the breakup came before the cell phone revalution . What ever you do don't let the phone line to your house or busniss go down

The drop off in air travel post 9/11 was the nudge needed to push them over the edge of the precipice (sp?).

The only airline that was consistently profitable was SouthWest prior to 9/11. My understanding of the current situation is taht SW and JetBlue are still the only profitable airlines.

Part of the problem was that most of the larger companies were committed to servicing routes that had minimal carriage/travelers. SouthWest succeeds because they are a short haul carrier and they have a limited service area.

Besides, for the majors, it was freight and US Mail that paid most of the bills. Passenger service was like local telphone service, a wash at best.