Thread: Government & Post Election Discussion
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Old 11-10-2018, 07:37   #1507
OLD BOY
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Re: Government & Post Election Discussion
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1andrew1 View Post
They do worry me but I don't take a partisan view on proceedings. It's interesting that the IMF seems to lay some of the blame at the UK selling off the family silver through privatisation so we have nothing for the bad times.
A bit like companies like MG Rover who sold off their land and IP to pay the day-to-day bills but eventually had no assets left to sell. Those privatisation sales were Conservative not Labour policies.
Isn't that a rather strange argument? If we sell, we are making money, which can be used to pay off debt. We pay it at that point to reduce the interest we are paying on the debt. If we sell it later rather than earlier, we are in a worse position because of all the additional interest we have paid.

It is also worth mentioning that privatised companies generally make more money than nationalised ones, and the government reaps the benefit of the increased profits made through taxation. The eastern rail franchise was a remarkable exception to that general principle.

As an aside, and before anyone else points this out, some contracts for services and the resulting franchises have been extremely badly managed, resulting in collapses and poor levels of service in some areas. Lessons must be learned from this in the future, because each collapse and each evidence of poor service brings the system into disrepute, despite the benefits that can be seen in those areas that are managed properly.
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