The British Approach to Privatisation

D. R. Myddelton

Economic Affairs, 2014, vol. 34, issue 2, 129-138

Abstract: Thirty or so years after the 1945–51 Labour government nationalised the ‘commanding heights’ of the British economy, these enterprises were collectively losing the equivalent of £2 billion annually in today's money. In 1979 a Conservative government embarked on a programme of privatisation which handed out hefty inducements to managers, employees and investors and yielded total net proceeds of nearly £70 billion over 18 years. The introduction of competition (as well as regulation) reduced overstaffing and strike threats in state-run industries and eliminated most of the losses.

Date: 2014
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