"Let us glory in our inequality." - Failed Privatizations - the Thatcher Legacy
As in Chile, privatization in Britain was a victory for Chicago monetarism. This time it was implemented democratically. In fact, voters endorsed Margaret Thatchers selloff of public industries so strongly that by 1991, when she was replaced as prime minister by her own partys John Major, only 35 percent of Britains voters supported the Labour Party half the proportion registered in 1945. The Conservatives sold off public monopolies, used the proceeds to cut taxes, and put the privatized firms on a profit-making basis. Their stock prices rose sharply, making capital gains for investors whose ranks included millions of Britons who had been employees and/or customers of these enterprises.
Yet by 1997 the Conservatives were voted out of office by one of the largest margins in their history. What concerned voters were the results of privatization that Mrs. Thatcher had not warned them about. Prices did not decline proportionally to cost cuts and productivity gains. Many services were cut back, especially on the least utilized transport routes. The largest privatized bus company was charged with cut-throat monopoly practices. The water system broke down, while consumer charges leapt. Electricity prices were shifted against residential consumers in favor of large industrial users. Economic inequality widened as the industrial labor force shrunk by two million from 1979 to 1997, while wages stagnated in the face of soaring profits for the privatized companies. The tax cuts financed by their selloff turned out to benefit mainly the rich...
(Read more: http://michael-hudson.com/2013/04/failed-privatizations-the-thatcher-legacy/)
xchrom
(108,903 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)that New Labour didn't re-nationalise anything. In the case of the railways they actually completed the privatisation. They also went completely overboard on PFI's leading to the current situation within some of our Health Authorities with unsustainable rent commitments.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)Blair was essentially a centre-right version of Thatcher.
cbrer
(1,831 posts)Economic, social, personal...
And we STILL don't have the gumption to revolt for solutions, and sustainable paths.
What is it going to take?
PETRUS
(3,678 posts)I think a lot of people were surprised (and some wrong-footed, then alarmed) by 2011's worldwide civil disobedience, and Occupy metastasizing here. "They" (pardon me) beat a lot of that fuck down, of course. But it's not like any of the sentiment behind the phenomenon has been placated. Large numbers of people are seething today, if divided by geography or the specifics of their anger.
Anyway, who knows...
cbrer
(1,831 posts)It's a shame that much destruction will likely take place before we can build something better.
I believe the 1% hopes we'll stick to peaceful protest. The emerging police state can effectively deal with that.
I wish I could realistically see another path.