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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The reasons behind privatisation are so government doesn’t have to raise unpopular taxes to pay for investment in essential utilities and services, and can at the same time pretend to be making everyone rich with the IPO’s (Initial Public Offering of shares).
I used to be a proponent of privatisation of essential services but all that happens is overseas companies buy them and take the profits to help fund essential services in their own country.
Take water utilities as an example. UK rivers are regularly polluted with raw sewage because of lack of investment in treatment plants. That government won’t legislate against that or for greater re-investment because that makes utilities unattractive to buy. Meanwhile profits go overseas. That’s how it works. That may not have been the intention, but that is the unintended consequences of the mis-management of privatisation.
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