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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Greed… profit. To line their own pockets… governments don’t do anything for their people unless theres a profit to be made.
the particulars vary, but the basic idea is the government announces that it needs something and will take offers. private companies put together proposals, detailing what they’ll do and how, and the government picks the one that is best for the price
with exception, someone somewhere is already an expert in whatever the government is trying to do, and they’re better at it than the government. the military is often a good example. by nature of what it is, the military has to duplicate many goods and services through government systems. it’s not hard to find examples of this being wildly more expensive or lesser quality than what is available through the private sector.
>From what ive read, consumers are definitely not the beneficiaries in such arrangements.
consumers are often unhappy with such arrangements, that doesn’t mean the government taking over would be better.
that’s the bedrock of most of this. it isn’t about what system does the best, it’s which one does the least worst.
When done correctly privatization can drive competition, no public company can compete with a state owned one. This, the free market, can benefit the customer in the end.
I think telecom companies in Europe were privatized correctly and that is why we have good internet.
governments do this, particularly in america, because their incentives are poorly aligned. They get donations from an industry lobby that wants to privatize something and then it’s just a fun way of robbing the tax payers.
the fun fact of almost all of those privitized services is a worse service for a higher price
Thank you so much, everyone! Your answers have helped so much! Thank you!
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