Bank customers resent paying fees for automated teller machines and other services that once were free. Cable TV companies often have a lock on local markets free of any competition. To be sure, there have been some benefits from deregulation. Telecommunications companies are offering far more products and customer packages. Long-distance rates have dropped.
Banking is more convenient for almost everyone.
Proponents of deregulation, while unrepentant, are worried about the current backlash. Despite Nevada's actions, no one expects law makers to fully turn back the clock, but continued consumer dissatisfaction may prompt the U.S. Congress to do some tinkering that could exacerbate current problems. A movement toward re-regulation could have an effect on the vibrancy of the economy, warned Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan last year. He noted that part of the economy's resilience depended on the ability of industry to act unimpeded both to cut costs and to exploit markets. What many analysts see is a period of adjustment in which consumers learn to cope with the changes brought by deregulation and governments and industries search for ways to correct the imbalances.