p.s. it's on the web now... http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=157017&; FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=18151&bmUID=1023794495677
or at tinyurl.com: http://tinyurl.com/ctr (tinyurl is a brilliant service that changes those bulky URLs into manageable - indeed, tiny - ones. downsizing at its best). FWIW, i find this statement ... "The marketplace has become more adversarial toward consumers. Absence of strict rules has inspired aggressive tactics, which have led competitors to respond in kind. Sellers have gained disproportionate power over buyers through widespread use of hidden charges, fine-print loopholes, ever-changing prices, and unauthorized switching of service." ...the most thought-provoking - it argues that, in a competitive market, companies will gang up on consumers. which seems prima facie inane, given the presence of competition gives consumers the power to a) switch and b) complain in public and c) sue. (the example given of the free-checking-for-life chap seems to scream out for a lawsuit; perhaps he doesn't have his original 1985 contract, but surely SOMEONE has THEIRS ... you'd think the "Class Action" light would be flashing somewhere...) the conclusion seems to be that deregulation breeds a new anticompetitiveness, collusion on the part of companies to screw their customers. it seems more likely that the first sentence, if truncated, is true: the marketplace has become more adversarial. both sides get to compete in it - producers and consumers - and that, on the whole, strengthens the marketplace itself. nothing wrong, from the consumer's point of view, with higher prices, as long as services or products are commensurately better too. thinking the above through, it's actually rather amazing that the prices in the CR graphs continue to fall (mostly) all the way through last year. as others have noted already, there's little comparison between a telephone bill in 1975 and one in 2000, in terms of the services you're getting - or can get - for your money. etb
