Location is given a leading role in real life and real estate. So we find it appropriate that the Civic Opera and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are neighbors.
On both stages, at any given time, audiences can follow prima donnas, Greek choruses, and overwrought plots–usually sung in a foreign language.
So it was last week that two longtime antagonists at the Merc were singing in different keys, if not different tunes.
Chairman Jack Sandner, who leaves office in January, raised the idea of merging the Merc with the rival Chicago Board of Trade because the exchange is failing to keep up with the growth of the over-the-counter futures market.
Merc Chairman Emeritus Leo Melamed countered that the idea represented personal musing, not exchange policy.
At the CBOT, Chairman Pat Arbor contended that growth prospects are bright, but said he would work for a combination.
The proposal is the latest of several floated over the last 20 years. Politics, personalities, and practical problems have prevented any real progress.
