Eli5: How does privatization of an essential public good/service/infrastructure work and what are the reasons behind it?

Question

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?

In: 142

Answer 1

Most privitisation stems from pure ideology. The belief that government shouldn’t be doing something that the private sector (a.k.a. their buddies) could. This is rarely true because it’s impossible for there to be competition in most former public services.