Antitrust as central‑planning push

When prominent anti‑monopoly advocates push aggressive merger blocks and breakups, the policy effect may be less competition and more centralized economic control; specific episodes (here, the blocked JetBlue–Spirit deal and Spirit’s bankruptcy after a jet‑fuel shock and engine recalls) can reveal whether antitrust policy is deploying market remedies or substitute industrial planning. — If true, this reframing changes how policymakers, courts, and the public should evaluate antitrust proposals — shifting the debate from simple market structure metrics to questions about state capacity, tradeoffs, and unintended industrial policy consequences.