What I learned from Alfred Kahn

Alfred Kahn, the father of airline deregulation, and much more, recently died. Around 15 years ago, he told me of his hopes for deregulation and how it would lead to lower prices, greater transparency, more competition, better service and wider choice. As I was then and continue to work intensively in this area, I was very interested in his hopes. I would, though, have to say that in most cases the law of unintended consequences has struck and the results have not been as complete as he envisaged. However, there has been progress in many areas, with the shortcomings being caused by the failure of legislators and regulators to imagine the alternatives.