### q11 transparency helps identify problems > Transparency in pricing helps everyone identify problems immediately. That’s what the Shipping Act did for ocean carriers. It stabilized the industry. > But starting in the 1970s, policymakers turned away from the basic public utility model in multiple industries, including trucking, rail, telecommunications, finance, and airlines. Prices indeed went down at first, seeming to prove the efficiency experts correct. But long-term, the change led to destructive competition in these sectors. Airlines, for instance, expanded rapidly and then went bankrupt, in turn cutting labor costs, ending air service to smaller and medium sized cities, and then consolidated into an oligopoly with pricing power. (This is still going on, by the way. United [just announced](https://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-canceled-routes-airline-deregulation-act-2021-11) it is cutting more flights to small towns across the midwest.) There were similar changes in the rail and trucking sectors. Reminds me of the postal service problems — it NEEDS to be a public utility so that ALL PEOPLE CAN BE SERVED. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fmd81bkmt33tt74rr7whn8me) - [[Too Big to Sail How a Legal Revolution Clogged Our Ports by Matt Stoller#q11 transparency helps identify problems|View in Vault]]