z_darius: It's a nice article but this is one guy's opinion, although I'm sure many share that opinion. Privatization is the problem, not the solution. Private ownership shows a strong tendency to consolidation of economic power, killing of small businesses and eventually to the establishment of monopolies. That's what we've been actually seeing in the last decades. Look at the banking system. It is a disaster! Or take the oil industry. Standard Oil (SO) was broken into a bunch of smaller companies, which eventually have been bought out and we're close to oil monopoly again. I think we have now 3 oil companies operating in the US. Not hard to fix prices, is it? I have no problem with private ownership in general, but some things, such as natural resources and land should be always under a strict control of the nation. Companies should be able to use some of those resources under revocable licenses, but never own things such as nation's oil, coal or water. In some areas, it would be awesome if private companies managed some of the national assets, but still report to the nation, not to stock holders, and be paid based on their performance, i.e. efficiency, measurable benefits to the nation etc. And by nation I don't mean big banks, political leaders and chairmen of international corporations. I consider the corporation as an economic phenomenon to be evil, immoral and against the good of people.
I agree you are partly right, but for a country like Poland the opposite is the problem of too many public companies not too few. Banking regulation has undoubtedly been weak, but that does not apply to every sector of the economy. The guy responsible for the article is the finance minister of Poland by the way, and his is not a minority view.
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