Antitrust Tug of War

The Obama administration's antitrust division is keeping itself busy these days in efforts to reign in various major industries from railroad giants to food processors. Because the officials have stepped up enforcement, the New York Times reports, they're facing resistance even from within the administration. One argument against the crackdown is that it's ill-timed, as corporate America has yet to recover from the recession. Recently, the Transportation Department turned down recommendations from the antitrust division and, instead, approved an antitrust immunity request involving global airlines. According to the paper, "The antitrust division argued the immunity was unnecessary for approving the newly reconstituted alliance and that it could lead to rates rising from 6 to 15 percent for many routes, according to public filings. The Transportation Department rejected that analysis for most of the routes and instead endorsed a policy popular during the Bush administration that favored such industry agreements out of a desire for efficiency."

Recent gains in the stock market offer investors a "glimmer of hope," according to today's Washington Post. 401(k) account balances on plans administered by money-management firm Fidelity grew by 13 percent from the end of March to the end of June—largely due to equity gains. The article offers an encouraging example: "an investment of $10,000 on Jan. 1, 2007, in the Vanguard Windsor fund—a common option for participants in 401(k) plans—would have grown to $10,773.22 by Oct. 9 of that year, according to data from Morningstar. One year later, as the recession deepened and financial markets tumbled, that $10,000 would have shriveled to $5,485.40. By March 9 of this year, the bottom of the market, the investor would have lost 57 percent, and been left with a balance of $4,268.44." And, now, the good news: "At the end of trading Thursday," the article says, "market gains would have driven that $10,000 investment back up to $6,540.49, still down 35 percent from the peak but a measurable improvement from March."

According to Reuters, Sweeden's Ericcson will take over the wireless assets of Nortel Networks Corp. Nortel, which is based in Toronto, was once North America's biggest maker of telephone gear, but it filed for bankruptcy protection early this year. The Wall Street Journal says that Research in Motion (RIMM), which makes the BlackBerry, was a "wildcard" in the process, but the company has complained that it was frozen out of the bankruptcy proceedings.

A 24-hour marathon legislative session this past week leading up the final passage of California's state budget was supposed to be efficient. Instead, as today's L.A. Times puts it, "it was more like a slow moving train wreck." According to the article, the rushed session simply exhausted many of the legislators who were already weary from pressure from aggressive lobbyists. "Overnight lockdown sessions are becoming the norm with budgets," the paper explains. "Meetings start before bills have been vetted by the Legislature's legal staff, leaving lawmakers to wait in the dead of night to see the specific language they are being asked to vote on."

Finally, from the Washington Post comes a story of the rise of the "digital nomad." As companies more regularly allow or insist that workers telecommute nowadays, more people are leaving their homes and seeking out new places to work. From coffee shops to hotel lobbies, as long as there is a wireless signal, these locations can serve as a workplace. According to the story, "Nomads who want the feel of working with officemates have begun co-working in public places or at the homes of strangers. They work laptop-by-laptop in living rooms and coffee shops, exchanging both idle chitchat and business advice with people who all work for different companies."