Privatization’s Shaky Theoretical Foundations

Ben Fine

Chapter 2 in Privatization and Alternative Public Sector Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2008, pp 13-30 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract There can be little doubt that privatization was placed on the political, and hence economic and economics agenda, in the early 1980s by the meteoric rise of neo-liberalism.1 In particular, UK Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, was recognized to have taken the first path-breaking, if modest initiative by the selling off of local government-owned, ‘council’ housing to tenants at knockdown prices (Brittan 1986). The understandable popularity of this initiative to those who benefited in a booming housing market, with no immediately perceivable disadvantage to the future homeless or hard to house, spawned bolder initiatives. It gave rise to a major UK programme of denationalization, including British Airways, British Coal, and the electricity, gas and telecommunication public corporations.

Keywords: Social Capital; Private Sector; Public Service; Industrial Policy; Market Imperfection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-28641-2_2

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230286412_2

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