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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blankmind who wrote (21675)	4/27/1999 3:18:00 PM
From: Sir Francis Drake	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

blankmind - I really don't want to take up space here discussing this, but maybe I can put it to rest, and we won't have to revisit this. Sure there is some difference in philosophical leanings in enforcing and interpreting anti-trust law between Reagan/Bush folks and Clinton's DOJ. But, it's hardly so clear-cut, you must also see the larger context - Reg/Bus presided over a specific time in the economy... there was mass restructuring, and necessary consolidation which took account of the realities of competing against huge international conglomerates (Japanese keiretsu, Korean chaebols etc.) It was reasonable to allow some slack in enforcing anti-trust laws. Now the US has completed it's restructuring and is way ahead of the process that's just starting in the rest of the world. Different policies are called for in this environment. The pendulum has swung back too far and it's time to look at the negative aspects of illegal monopolistic behavior. So Clinton is confronting a different environment than Reg/bus did. Ulitmately, we as consumers, our economy, the health of our tech industry, and yes, even the health of the monopolists (such as MSFT), will BENEFIT from assuring greater competition... remember, Japan and Korea got into trouble precisely because they didn't restrain their anticompetitive behemoths. I believe that if a Republican administration confronted the same environment that Clinton does, they too, if responsible, would take the same steps. Don't be fooled into thinking that allowing illegal monopolistic practices is healthy for ANYONE in the long term. Not even for MSFT shareholders - there are plenty of examples of monopolies that stagnated. Illegal behavior has nothing to do with free enterprise. Never lose sight of this: it is in the long-term interest of MSFT shareholders to have MSFT be as dynamic as possible.