Does the American “Market” Abhor Competition?

Mergers, mergers, mergers. There’s been talk for quite some time about the nation’s two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers–DirecTV and Dish Network–merging. More recently the talk has been about the nation’s only two satellite radio providers merging. Today, there’s a leak from the companies that a merger between XM and Sirius may be announced soon, maybe even later today.

All we ever hear about from the so-called free-marketeers is how competition is best for the American consumer. Then how come all they actually do is cut off competition with merger after merger?

Of course, there will probably have to be some major wheeling and dealing over anti-trust issues at the Justice Department, even with the relatively neutered Bush Justice Dept. But given how easily the BellSouth/AT&T merger breezed through I won’t hold my breath waiting for any real conditions to be implemented.

Then you’ll have all the choices in satellite radio you want, provided it’s XMSirius. That’s the FREE market at work!