The four companies being dropped from the Dow have been there since before their replacements were born. Old-economy stalwarts Chevron, Goodyear, Sears and Union Carbide are being replaced by Microsoft, Intel, Home Depot and SBC Communications.

These changes come on the heels of the 1997 Dow revamping when Wal-Mart replaced Woolworth, Hewlett-Packard replaced Texaco, Johnson and Johnson replaced Bethlehem Steel and Citigroup replaced Westinghouse.

As we enter a new century, it's not surprising that so many changes in the economy have occurred in such a short period of time. Advances in technology increase the speed of change in virtually everything. Today, microchips are the new oil. Software and telecommunications are the new transportation.

The original Dow listed just 12 companies, most of which are unfamiliar today. They were companies that stagnant Luddites like Pat Buchanan would applaud because they reflected an economy that depended on brute manual labor.

Those twelve were American Cotton Oil, American Sugar, American Tobacco, Chicago Gas, Distilling & Cattle Feeding, and General Electric, Laclede Gas, National Lead, North American, Tennessee Coal & Iron, and U.S. Leather and U.S. Rubber. Of the original twelve, only General Electric remains a part of today's index.

Over the years, as the economy expanded, the Dow added more companies. And the fact that the U.S. economy, and therefore the Dow, is changing so rapidly today is no reason to panic. It means the United States is setting the pace of change, not running to catch up to it.

Although it might not be clear where our economy is headed, I can guarantee you it will be better than where it's been. To the credit of the editors of the Wall Street Journal, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, will continue to record the progress.

© Copyright Deborah A. Ayers 1999. All rights reserved.