The FTC is holding a B2B workshop later this month. It will consider numerous fascinating issues. Certainly, both the government and the courts have moved away from Justice Brandeis' sentimental dislike of bigness per se. Microsoft aside, there has been an unprecedented easing in antitrust policy by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Recognizing a changed world, the enforcers have mostly stayed their hands while the Big Eight accounting firms are now five, the seven Baby Bells four, Big Oil from seven to four.
Commercial banks own investment banks, insurance companies own both.
More deals wait in the wings in airlines, communications and packaged food. This relaxed and pragmatic attitude toward antitrust is likely to continue. For the coming presidential election, both major candidates are vying to prove themselves champions of the New Economy. Yet issues and circumstances could arise that would force the Justice Department and the courts to intervene. It will be up to business people to avoid even the appearance of using the new networks to fix prices or market share.