Why Obama May Assent to Deals

Isn't the conventional wisdom that deal-making is going to be tougher under President Obama and a Democratic administration? David Boies, the superlawyer the government hired in the 1990s to bust up the Microsoft Corporation, says over the next two years, the exact opposite will be true. President Obama might want to police antitrust issues, but the economy is in such sorry shape that he probably won't be able to, Boies said. It just won't be politically palatable to kill deals that could save some jobs. Washington, of course, has tilted toward would-be monopolists for decades, starting with President Reagan. President Obama, of all people, could be the one who takes things the other way.