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AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile would make AT&T about a third bigger than it is now. Here’s my prediction about how this will play out if the deal goes through: within five years, the compensation of AT&T’s CEO will grow to be about a third bigger than it is now.

There’s no especially compelling reason this should happen, but it will regardless. Keep that in mind in the midst of the coming blizzard of explanations for why this particular consolidation is good for the industry, good for the consumer, good for shareholders, and, well, just plain good for America, dammit. Industry consolidation over the past 30 years has produced a smaller but much higher paid class of corporate executives, and this one will too.

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