The July 2002 issue of Consumer Reports (not yet on their website) has an article on p.30 on "Deregulation" with a summary "Why consumers suffer most in a free market - and what you can do about it." Their strongest argument is a graph on p.30 on titled "Prices: A long-term decline. Consumer prices often fell after deregulation. But inflation-adjusted prices were falling for decades before, typically at a faster rate." The chart shows prices for airlines, local telephone, long distance, cable TV, and electricity from 1950 to 2000, which are roughly supportive of their claim.
Is there a rebuttal to this somewhere? Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444 703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
