Re: [Pen-l] A Brief History of Privatization: Fannie Mae and Ginny Mae as Exemplars?

["Jim Devine" <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

Michael Perelman wrote:
> has there ever been a privatization that has
> worked to the benefit of society?

it would depend on who was organizing the privatization. Usually
(almost always? always?), it's an effort by some "entrepreneur" to
make a profit by cherry-picking government enterprises. (And they'll
be backed up by some economic theory they can find that says that
efficiency will be improved.)  If a government enterprise is not
profitable (like the US Navy), entrepreneurs aren't interested. They
want to control the Navy's supply corps, on the other hand, because it
may be profitable (especially with government guarantees).

(My Dad was in the Navy supply corps. If he were alive today and still
in the Navy, he'd likely work for some private company.)

of course, we should ask if socializations have benefited society,
too. A lot of those are bail-outs for the private sector, leaving the
tax-payers paying the costs. Given the current balance of
political-economic power, I'd expect both privatizations and
socializations to benefit powerful parts of the private sector rather
than society at large.

by the way, I'd put more weight on what's good for the working class
and other dominated groups rather than on the "public" (which,
strictly speaking, includes the profiteering privateers).
-- 
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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