Gird yourselves...

...for a proxy fight. MCI has yet again jilted Qwest in favor of a match with Verizon.

The Cranky Economist is on the record saying I think this is probably a wise move on the part of MCI's board, if you happen to care about the long-term prospects for creating a stable, competitive company. But will the results of a proxy fight (in which Qwest tries to bypass the MCI board by taking its case directly to the shareholders) reflect that judgment? Hard to say. When Qwest is offering you a lot more cash for your MCI shares, it's not hard to imagine how you might start taking more interest in the short term than in the distant future.

Regardless, it's sure to be the entertaining business story of the spring.