I’ve often heard the idea that state and federal governments can’t go out of business, since they can always raise taxes until ends meet. If people don’t like it, too bad — they’re stuck with the situation until the next election. However, the same strategy doesn’t work for private businesses. The airlines are a great example. Fuel costs going up? Just raise fares another 20%. Of course, this hurts them in the long run, since there actually is competition for air travel. Southwest seems to be the only airline that understands this simple truth: behaving like the government doesn’t work when people actually have a choice in the matter.