Deregulation Raised Phone Prices in California

You would have thought that Californians, at least, would have been wary of deregulating utilities, especially after the electricity mess that got Gray Davis booted out of office. But no, we haven't learned. Phone service prices have actually gone up, after the state government voted to deregulate that business sector. Again, this comes from the misunderstanding and misapplication of free market forces. And it always comes down to the illusion of choice. Sure, you can go with AT&T because they have lower-priced bundles of broadband internet and land-line phone access, but then their caller ID, call-waiting, and other extra services went up. But surely, the other guys' prices would go down to lure more customers, right? No, they also went up, and they will continue to go up to the amount that the market will bear. Why? It's not a free market. You can't choose Verizon for local phone service, AT&T for call-waiting, and Sprint for caller ID. You have to get all those things from the same guy. So, surprise! They jacked those prices up because they have you trapped, and will find just the right rate to keep you annoyed, but still paying, but not annoyed enough to switch to someone else. Maybe these elected officials should take some elementary macro economics classes so they won't make these kinds of mistakes.