The big utilities like this, because they are left to regulate themselves, albeit under the watchful eye of the Federal Cartel Office.

ECONOMIST: Germany��s electrical storm

Germany's federal cartel office this week criticised Lufthansa for cutting prices too sharply to below cost, it said in a battle with Germania, a much smaller carrier, on the route between Berlin and Frankfurt proper.

ECONOMIST: Low-cost airlines

Over a score of federal institutions, including the Cartel Office (Berlin) and the Auditing Court (Frankfurt), have been prodded into abandoning their current homes for the Rhine.

ECONOMIST: Replenish your Rhenish | The