“Privatization would allow entrepreneurs to take on challenges at which federal bureaucracies are failing. The United States is a land of huge talent and diversity. But to take full advantage of those assets, we should divest the government of activities that individuals and businesses can perform better by themselves.”
Just so we can be clear about the word Privatization let's look at Chris Edward's definition,
“This study mainly uses privatization in a narrow sense to mean fully moving ownership of businesses and assets to the private sector. The term is often used more broadly to include government contracting, public-private partnerships, vouchers, and other forms of partial privatization. Those are all worthy reforms, but they are not the focus here.” Cato.org
Jon B. Goodman from Harvard business review starts us off at the heart of the matter when he says,
"In the functions that are privatized, they (the government) argue, the profit-seeking behavior of new, private sector madras one daily leads to cost-cutting and greater attention to customer satisfaction."
As stated in the last section, completion over the customer’s dollar drives better service and better products. On the other hand, with the government, they're not going to shut down no matter how bad their service or product is because they are propped up by the federal government. As this section unfolds you will see how the private sector beats out the public. What is truly best for the economy is having the businesses that have the best quality product and customer service alongside the best rates so that the dollar on a national level will go the farthest. The government is always pitching that we need to create more jobs, but you do not hear them talk about raising the quality of the jobs that are already in the economy.
If you are skeptical that privatization of the public work then check out this quote by John B. Goodman, from Harvard Business Review, on the privatization that has already taken place around the world.
"This newfound faith privatization has spread to become the global economic phenomenon of the 1990s. Throughout the world, governments are training over to private managers to control everything from electrical utilities to prisons, from railroads to education. By the end of the 1980s, sales of state enterprises worldwide had reached out a total of over $185 billion – with no signs of a slowdown. In 1990 alone the worlds' governments sold off $25 billion in state-owned enterprises – with continents vying to see who could claim the privatization title."
More governments outside of America, are seeing the power of the free market. They see that if there is a private company already doing what their public company is doing, why don't they leave them to it. The government already has so much of the responsibility why is it trying to have departments and companies compete with the private sector? If there is already a company doing the job well or better in the public sector then what's the point of competing with him? The government is meant to fill in the gaps where the people have a need.
Different countries around the world like Britain, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Eastern Europe have privatized, Chris Edwards (Cato Institute) describes what's been done.
“She (Margaret Thatcher) was determined to revive the stagnant British economy, and her government privatized dozens of major businesses, including British Airways, British Telecom, British Steel, and British Gas. Other nations followed the British lead. . . . Australia privatized dozens of companies between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, generating proceeds of more than $100 billion. . . During the 1980s and 1990s, Canada privatized more than 50 major businesses, including electric utilities, a railway, an airline, and the air traffic control system. . . Mexico, for example, slashed the number of state-owned firms from 1,155 in the early 1980s to just 210 by the early 2000s. . . In Eastern Europe, huge privatizations were pursued after the fall of communism, and the government share of total economic output in that region fell from about three-quarters in 1990 to about one-quarter today.”
People say that Europe and socialism go hand and hand but Margaret Thatcher was trying to undo socialism.
“Thatcher had a strong personal belief in privatization. Privatization was crucial for ‘reversing the corrosive and corrupting effects of socialism,’ she said, and central to ‘reclaiming territory for freedom. The purpose of privatization was to ensure 'the state's power is reduced and the power of the people enhanced.’”
As we can see Socialism is the opposite of privatization. Thatcher was in a society that was socialistic and she perceived it as corrosive and corrupted. She looked around in her own country and saw how the current government was given too much power, leading them to the temptation to become corrupted by the power and the ability to monopolize everything, which led to a very negative effect on the economy.
Tim Bankes II
Tim is a Christian author. His worldview that informs his writing is Calvinist, Baptist, and Libertarian. His main series is his Christian picture book series, "About God for Kids", where he discusses the attributes of God in a way kids can digest. He also wrote a Christian Romance novel, libertarian book for beginners, and Christian coloring books. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Biblical Studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He has written a book on freedom called “Are You Free” (If you are into listening to books I have it in audio also, Are You Free Audiobook )and he has written multiple children’s books about God. Be Sure to check out the podcast version of the blog, Labor for Truth Podcast. And check out “The Truth About” Youtube Channel. You can find his works at his amazon author page, https://amazon.com/author/timbankes. He even has a free digital ebook on how God is the creator. Get your free copy today at, Greater Creator .Also If you are into Christian Fiction, he has made his first book in his Futuristic Christian Fiction series free, Her Dying Wish
Some of my other favorite books on these subjects that are great for beginners to the liberty movement are:
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