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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In the UK, we sold of British Telecom in 1984.
It was losing money, which effectively cost the taxpayer. Despite having a monopoly on telecommunications.
Since going private, it enabled a huge growth in share ownership for the common person, with ‘retail’ investment growing from 7% to around 24%.
The growth, along with subsequent profits whilst being run better, made profit for these people as well as obviously those who run it. Those profits over a certain point are taxed, along with various other taxes by that money being spent on goods and services.
Privatisation can be good or bad (depending on your perspective and who you are). What we generally see nowadays is bad privatisation (from the perspective of the tax payer).
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