> AT&T and Walmart all very centralized. It doesn't seem to hurt their performance. They don't compete on price - they define markets and platforms, and dictate

> AT&T and Walmart all very centralized. It doesn't seem to hurt their performance. They don't compete on price - they define markets and platforms, and dictate terms. They're able to change rapidly compared to monopolies of the past I don't disagree that AT&Ts monopoly control over the local loop in California, the Midwest and the South, or its oligopolistic control of cell signals have hurt their performance. It has hurt consumers, it has hurt US productivity. One just need to look at some of the other industrialized countries to see how their network access and cell signals can function unfettered by such monopolies. A decade after the taxpayer TARP bailout of the major "too big to fail" banks, it's stunning to see someone claim that corporate America has finally itself licked centralization and monopoly.