Perhaps the most worrisome factor in charting future financial 
waters, which even Alan Greenspan finds murky because it is so 
new and different than a short time ago, is proposed anti-trust 
action against Microsoft. The difference in point of view between 
Bill Gates and the Trustbusters is staggering. The current bull 
market and booming economy is based to an amazing degree on
Microsoft. Jobs that didn't even exist five years ago are the 
hottest in the job market. Bill Gates tried to tell the Congress 
that in "One day" his market dominance could evaporate - if 
someone came along with a new, better idea.

However, as long as Microsoft soars, hundreds of thousands of 
small businesses, such as Waveshift, the publisher of the Michael 
Reagan MONTHLY MONITOR, will flourish. Microsoft, with its 
innovative software, and other technological advances have 
created major changes in the work place. Many people can work as
well, or better, from their homes as by going to the office. This
relieves road congestion, which makes road-building less needed.
It very easily could, and will, totally revolutionize education. 
With access to Internet search engines, and a few software
educational programs, today children in even the most isolated 
areas of the world, can have unlimited reference material at 
their fingertips.

Just as much of the economic growth of the 1920s was fueled by 
RCA, today much of the economic growth we are seeing is being 
fueled by Microsoft. If Microsoft is brought down, which Bill 
Gates believes will happen if they are not able to add new 
features to their software for fear of "monopoly" accusations 
- it could reverberate throughout the nation and the world.

The attack on RCA triggered a disaster in 1929. The value of its
stock dropped 90%. What would happen in the economy if 
Microsoft's value dropped 90% - or 50%? As Alan Greenspan says, 
we really don't know exactly what is going to happen. We've never 
had quite this same set of circumstances before.

However, two things are fairly clear: If there is a sharp drop 
in jobs in America, Clinton will no longer be viewed as "doing 
a good job in spite of the scandals." Today he is getting credit
for an economy that is booming largely because of Microsoft and 
several hardware giants, and balancing the budget by slowing the 
increase in federal spending. One is due largely to Bill Gates 
and the other largely due to Newt Gingrich, both of whom are 
hated by the nation's press which tries hard to destroy them.


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