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Privatization (When It's Not) | The Libertarian Institutelibertarianinstitute.org/articles/privatization-when-its-not/
300 sats \ 3 comments \ @Undisciplined 17h econ
Is it time to privatize the Royal Mail? Owen Ashworth argues for getting the government out of the delivery service.
"Royal Mail is just another example. This culture is completely strangling the creativity, the entrepreneurial spirit that drives growth, achieves a higher living standards, and spending more time doing the things that make life worth living. Thinkers like Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard outline a coherent, understandable and growth inducing thesis on private property rights. Instead of learning about this, those who seek political office learn how to use the state to achieve their ends rather than questioning whether they should."
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33 sats \ 2 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 15h
For most, privatization conjures an image of fat, avaricious capitalists grabbing companies, obtaining full and unopposed control of all their resources, grinding every penny from them before moving on to the next victim. It is a picture that aids statists who seek to take control of the private economy for “the people’s” benefit. Actual details scupper much of this picture.
The government has retained what they are calling a “Golden Share.” This gives them critical veto power over decisions like relocating the headquarters outside of the United Kingdom, changing the tax residency to abroad, and the Universal Service Obligation. The Universal Service Obligation is a legal obligation to guarantee the delivery of letters and parcels six days a week across the United Kingdom at a uniform price. Included in the deal were provisions to safeguard existing employee rights like pay, working conditions, and pensions. The dog is still on a leash, and yet they would have you believe it frolics freely.
Note that the author said, “ The dog is still on a leash, and yet they would have you believe it frolics freely.” I take it to mean that the bureaucracy will still be controlling the Royal Mail and not the entrepreneur. Which is another way to say that the Royal Mail, as a private company is just being set up to fail again. Don’t these Brits ever learn? This is their second go-round with trying to privatize the mail. They are doing the same as the first full-fledged failure. I guess that the Labour Party can do no different, ever, since they are nothing more than progressive/lefty/Marxist/socialist/communist/murderers. (I do mean consciously murdering elderly by taking their heating subsidies away.) If I were the Czech guy, I would back out of the deal claiming fraudulent sale due to the terms.
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20 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined OP 15h
Deregulation and the ensuing competition are better than privatization. Just take away the monopoly privileges and the market will assert itself.
Once people get used to the market options, they'll be more open to closing down the state options.
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35 sats \ 0 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 14h
Yes, but the way the Brits are doing this smells of sabotage and failure already. They aren’t shutting down the monopoly powers of the system nor creating any competition to the Royal Mail. It looks to me like they never even imagined that private companies in competition may lead to better service, but not the same as the Royal Mail. It looks like they only want Royal Mail the way it is forever.
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