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@AnotherDayInHell@beige.partyDoes anyone know of an example of a country that has privatized government services that is currently working out well? Likewise, are there opposite examples where privatization has been tried and failed miserably? I need examples to read up on to help me make my argument against privatization hit home when talking with my siblings and their in-laws.
The UK's experiments with rail and water privatisation are, like many things in the UK, a depressing litany of forced failures.
@passenger This is exactly what I am looking for. Thank you!
You're very welcome!
The rail privatisation story is fascinating because it kept failing, kept needing to be bailed out with government money, and then kept getting reprivatised. It's a good example of how the privatisation was done purely for ideological reasons and not for any pragmatic ones.
@passenger I'm reading about your water issues, and I was struck by the amount of foreign investors there are who own your water. That is a great point to bring up with isolationists. If they truly want to put essential public services on the free market, how can they square their nationalism with foreign ownership of their country's resources?
That's part of a broader topic in the UK, which is that assets here are regarded as "safe" places to park money, and that means that a lot of them have been bought by sovereign wealth funds or international hyperwealthy people.
This has the unfortunate ramification that anticapitalist talking points occasionally get hijacked by nativists and isolationists, who are outraged that FOREIGNERS are extracting so much money from owning everything, but would be less outraged if it were locals.
standard deviant in the u.s., the services on military bases once were done by service members (landscaping, building maintenance, dental cleanings, all the things)… now most are outsourced to contractors.
from my perspective the outcome is reduced group cohesion and resiliency and increased tax payer expense… so i don’t think it is working out well but maybe not the conclusion others have.
@AnotherDayInHell Xanterra controlling lodging and some campgrounds in National Parks is problematic.
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2023/10/national-parks-lodging-problem
@AnotherDayInHell@beige.party
Singapore privatized its entire rail system (SMRT) in 2000. In 2002, SMRT changed its CEO to a person with a history in retail, who focused on aggressively pushing retail and cutting costs. By 2011, the decrease in engineering and maintenance resulted in massive breakdowns, which forced that person to step down and the governing transport body (LTA) to switch to a 'New Rail Financing Framework'. LTA took control of operating assets and leased them to same private operators instead. So far semi-privatization has polarizing depending on who you ask.
@aa_test I can't resist this low hanging fruit. Please accept my pre-emptive apology.
I guess privatizing their rail system wasn't a very SMRT idea!
Zing!
I'm so sorry lol
@AnotherDayInHell Germany privatized their railroad company in the 90s. It went from one of the most reliable railroad corps to one of the most unreliable in Europe.