The pensions industry gets more government interference than almost any other and scarcely any of it makes things better

The pensions industry gets more government interference than almost any other, and scarcely any of it makes things better. Radical thinking is certainly what’s required – hypothecation, perhaps, of part of the tax base into funded pensions for future generations. Now why does it seem so much more likely that all we’ll get is yet more meddling?Carnival/P&ORoyal Caribbean’s Richard Fain must be spitting tacks. Despite all his best endeavours, Micky Arison has managed to navigate the good ship Carnival straight though Royal Caribbean’s painstakingly constructed blockade, and if Mr Arison hasn’t yet achieved land fall, he’s certainly got it well within his sights.

Regulators allowing, there’s no doubt who’s going to win in a straight fight for P & O Princess. Mr Fain’s worst nightmare, a union of his two biggest rivals, will have come true.In the run-up to this week’s adjournment motion, Mr Fain insinuated that if shareholders didn’t lock Carnival out by voting through his merger proposal, he’d walk away. Shareholders took the risk, and by the look of it, they were right to do so. Mr Fain isn’t walking off set, nor was he ever likely to if he sincerely believed his own argument about the Royal Caribbean proposal standing a better chance of clearing regulators than Carnival. The $62.5m break fee he’d have to pay if he did decide to cast off in the lifeboat is not huge, but nor is it to be sneezed at.Well, now it’s down to the regulators, before whom Mr Fain will find himself applying one set of arguments in Britain and Europe, which is that cruises should be viewed a distinct market so as to make his own proposal look more acceptable than Carnival’s, and an altogether different one in the US, which is that cruises should be viewed as part of the wider vacation market since in the US both combinations would look too dominant if cruises are seen as distinct. Confused?Not half as much as the main protagonists must be by now.

The whole saga has provided the most glorious gravy train for the lawyers and investment bankers – P&O scarcely dares look at the meter any longer, the $65m mark having been clocked up some time back. The way things are going, both bids will get blocked and only the advisers will have gained.j.warner independent.co.uk. Eighteen Wheeler&#009PlayStation 2 ** Sega’s earth-shaking arcade racing title, 18 Wheeler, is the latest obscure driving game to hit Sony’s PS2. Players jump into the hot-seat of monstrous HGVs and make deliveries, practise precision parking and complete mini-objectives, all against the clock. Despite its impressive aesthetics and radical theme, this is one of the slowest and least exciting racing games ever. (Acclaim/Sega, out now, £39.99)Cricket 2002&#009PlayStation 2 **** Capping off a successful renovation of their sports series, EA proudly unveil their new and improved cricket title.