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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Utilities like water and electricity have huge capital investment costs, to pay for new generation, new reservoirs, power lines etc. whilst the government can of course pay for these out of the national debt, they will always compete with other priorities for funding like defence, education, healthcare etc.
Hiving them off to the private sector allows private capital to fund the expansion, and although the cost of debt may be higher than government debt, the dedicated and focussed operation of the private company means increased efficiency outweighs the extra cost.
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