Congress is about to eliminate the legal walls that separate commercial banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies -- opening the doors to a new wave of mega-mergers. Critics worry that huge banks will dampen competition and pay less attention to the average customer.

But by itself, sheer size -- whether in finance or in other industries -- should not be a concern. The real problem could be the unchecked political influence of the new global goliaths.

In just the past few years corporate giants have emerged across all industries. Citibank and Travelers, Bank of America and Nationsbank, and Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust are among the major mergers that have reshaped banking. In other industries, Daimler-Benz has linked up with Chrysler; AT&T with Mediaone; British Petroleum with Amoco; Aetna with Prudential Health. Still awaiting regulatory approval are some of the biggest combinations of all, including those between Exxon and Mobil, MCI Worldcom and Sprint, and Viacom and CBS.

We are likely to see much more of this. For starters, deregulation in Europe, Japan and countries like Brazil and South Korea is leading to many more possibilities for large acquisitions.