Suddenly the merger whirlwind started blowing once again last week, into every corner of the economy. Chrysler's agreement to buy AMC was only the most stunning of a series of takeover bids and pacts that swept through the boardrooms of airline companies, book publishers, casino operators, shoemakers and retailers. Says Thom Brown, chief of investment policy at Butcher & Singer, a Philadelphia-based investment-banking firm: "There are so many deals in the works that it's hard to keep a cap on them."
The unexpected flurry seemed to defy a whole host of forces. Many Wall Streeters had thought tax reform would put...