Our conservative friends constantly say that big government is really bad, but they don’t care how big corporations get. In fact, we can read worshipful coverage of the leaders of giant aggregations of money, and tell us how those leaders deserve all the money they haul home. We hear paeans of praise for the brilliant strategizing of Wall Street moguls, setting up bigger and bigger combinations. Is Glass-Steagall in the way of creating Citigroup? No problem, the laws get changed. Citigroup in trouble? No problem, politicians fall all over themselves to pour money on the problem.

The biggest companies in the country have tendrils that extend throughout the economic structure. Take the Tribune Company, which recently filed bankruptcy. It has 127 subsidiaries, of which 111 filed separately but are being administered together. There are 8 major newspapers, and over 100 niche publications, like the Spanish language newspaper Hoy, and the upscale Chicago Magazine. There are 25 television and cable companies and one radio station. It owns the Chicago Cubs (Maybe Next Year©). There are a bunch of related companies in businesses related to these main companies. For example, it owns a jet or two, a couple of direct mail companies, and something called Internet Foreclosure Service, Inc. It truly is a national business, with at least 14,600 employees from one end of the country to the other. (This information is from the affidavit of Chandler Bigelow, III, an Senior Vice President and CFO of the Tribune Company, in support of the first day motions in the bankruptcy.)

Why? Why should the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune, The the Baltimore Sun and Hoy be owned by the same company? Is there some obvious reason why one company should own 25 television stations? Isn’t there someone in Baltimore who can operate the Sun, and might even enjoy it? Maybe they could make a good living, and hire some people and do a good job of providing information to Marylanders?

Think about Starbucks. Is there any reason that one company should own 9,712 coffee stores around the world? Here’s their explanation, from their most recent 10-K:

The Starbucks Experience, or third place beyond home and work, is built upon superior customer service as well as clean and well-maintained Company-operated retail stores that reflect the personalities of the communities in which they operate, thereby building a high degree of customer loyalty.

Why do we need a national company to set up stores in Syracuse or Kansas City that “reflect the personalities” of these cities? Isn’t there anyone in Kansas City who knows how to set up a coffee shop that reflects their community? I think so. That person can make a good living and employ people and contribute to local causes of interest, and generally be a good citizen. Why should those profits go to Seattle?

As a nation, we seem to be hooked on financial gigantism. The Tribune Company bankruptcy offers an opportunity to look at alternative ways of thinking. There are no real reasons to keep this aggregation of companies together. It is assembled more or less like a Lego project. Some rich people, with access to mega-billions from mega-investment banks and mega-law firms, went on a buying spree and picked up a bunch of newspapers and television stations, based on what was available that day, and called it a company, just like we link Lego blocks together and call it a castle.

The good thing about this bankruptcy is that it offers a chance to a lot of people to buy a newspaper or a televisions station. We could start by appointing a trustee for each paper and station and magazine, and one for Hoy, and one for WGN radio, and so on and get on with the task of selling each one to someone local. We look at each sub and see if it can make money by itself, or whether it’s fortunes are so closely tied to another sub or group of subs that it cannot survive by itself. We link those Lego blocks together. The rest go on the block one at a time.

The Trustees look for local purchasers. There are wealthy citizens of each of these towns looking for investments that have a chance to do better than treasury notes paying 0%. Who knows, maybe one of us firedogs could come up with some money and buy the upscale Chicago Magazine.