Loose cannons

Market law

"[W]hat we are now seeing shows what can happen when commercial imperatives rule: a law of the jungle in which consumers gain lower prices during the battle, but the strongest player emerges dominant." — Melbourne Age economics editor Tim Colebatch commenting on the collapse of Ansett Airlines, which has given Qantas a near-monopoly over Australia's domestic aviation industry.

Clueless

"[T]he need to preserve regional services and the thousands of jobs that are at stake should take precedence over the maintenance of competition policy for its own sake. In the end, however, it is also the government's responsibility to ensure real competition in domestic aviation. At this stage, how this might be done is unclear." — September 11 Age editorial on Ansett collapse.

Logical outcome

"Qantas will have 90 per cent of the market and on many routes is effectively the only carrier. Instead of shuddering at this prospect, we should recognise that this is a logical outcome of competition policy." — Financial Review columnist Trevor Sykes on the Ansett collapse.

Economic rationalism

"If they [the NATO powers] start bombing, that could affect the production of oil, and it could affect consumer confidence." — Dr Brigitte Granville, head of the UK Royal Institute of International Affairs international economics program.

From GLW issue 464