Privatisation has been a costly failure in Britain (economist.com)

Article summary

The article discusses the failure of privatization in Britain, citing examples of decreased quality of services and increased costs. The comments suggest that the main motivator of profit can lead to a drop in service quality. The discussion focuses on the importance of providing essential services, such as education and utilities, without prioritizing profit. The role of government oversight and regulation is also debated.

Main themes

• privatization failures
• public services
• education
• government oversight
• regulation
• inequality and access

What commenters say

• Privatization of essential services leads to decreased quality and increased costs due to the prioritization of profit over people.
• Education should be a public service, not driven by profit, to ensure equal access to quality education for all.
• Introducing competition in public services, such as education and utilities, can lead to unequal access and decreased quality.
• Government oversight and regulation are necessary to prevent the negative consequences of privatization.
• The privatization model can be improved by granting time-limited contracts or franchises instead of property rights.
• Publicly-owned services, such as telecoms and housing, can provide better quality and more equitable access than private companies.
• The threat of re-nationalization can be an effective mechanism to enforce accountability and quality in privatized services.
• Privatization can lead to socializing losses and privatizing profits, resulting in an unfair distribution of costs and benefits.