In his written testimony, Mr Schmalensee is at pains to insist that the Justice Department's case against Microsoft does not turn on the question whether the firm is a monopoly in the operating-systems market.

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By itself (as Mr Schmalensee certainly knows) it does not in fact prove that Microsoft has no monopoly power, or even that, if it has such power, it is choosing for some reason not to exercise it.

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Suppose Mr Schmalensee's estimate is correct.

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But what seems incontestable, and a point on which Mr Schmalensee chooses not to dwell, is that even if Microsoft is acquitted of the charge of anti-competitive behaviour, its practices have already been tamed not just by conditions in its markets but also, directly and indirectly, by the antitrust regulators.

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