From what ive read, consumers are definitely not the beneficiaries in such arrangements. Why do governments do this then? Why give up ownership and control of vital stuff (e.g. water, utilities, highways, etc.) to private – and often – foreign entities?
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Quite often international aid and loans from the International Monetary Fund, entry into trading organisations, come with the stipulation that nationalised industries have to be privatised. Sometimes with preference given to the powerful countries that demand this. Poor countries have a hard time resisting this even though it’s often an expensive disaster for them and the sell off and running of the service afterwards are normally riddled with corruption; which is in itself another cause of privatisation, corrupt officials who stand to get rich out of it are obviously very keen on privatisation. Finally you have idealogical free market capitalists within the country or coming in from the outside and, although they aren’t doing it to steal or harm, because so much economic theory is founded on pure fantasy and wishful thinking they do almost as much damage as the crooks.
For example after the USSR collapsed Russia was heavily pressured to privatise its state economy in order to gain access to the global market. Western countries sent advisors, some competent and helpful, some, due to pandering to the political/economic right, and soapbox political posturing, and maybe, even, active sabotage, the most rabid Miton Friedmanite extremists imaginable. People who were so far right even the early 90s US and UK governments wouldn’t let them so much as glance at a bank merger at home were sent to reorganise Russia. With corrupt officials, corrupt KGB, the mafia and the advice of those idiots, the voucher privatisation of Russia had no chance and led to massive economic failure and the kleptocracy we have now.
Privatisation doesn’t have to be awful any more than nationalised industries have to be inefficient and wasteful, but there’s a stupid, quasi-religious belief in the “hidden hand of the market”, while actual real world economic forces drive corruption in the sell off and a “privatise the profits, socialise the costs” model in the aftermath.
John Finnemore describes one of the many fuck ups of privatisation in the uk better than I ever could
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HetLxhI1txY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HetLxhI1txY)
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