by Luka Oreskovic After World War II, French governments from both sides of the political aisle pursued a policy known as dirigisme. Dirigisme entailed consolidating fragmented industrial assets into large holdings, or “national champions’, that could carry long-term economic growth and speed up recovery in the postwar years. National champions to this day remain enshrined in the national conscience of the French people as proud symbols… Read More
Water Privatization in Russia: More Than a Drop in the Ocean
By Luka Oreskovic Without water, humans can only live for a few days. Yet only about 1 percent of the earth’s water is suitable for human consumption. Rising GDP brings increases in demand for food production, including meat, which demands the greatest amount of water. Treating water is therefore a key utility. With over $400 billion in annual turnover, freshwater supply and wastewater treatment account for over… Read More
Selling the Georgian Dream
By Luka Oreskovic Eight years ago, an enthusiastic crowd gathered in front of the Tbilisi parliament for Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidential inauguration. “We must create the Georgia that our ancestors dreamed of,” he told them, “the Georgia that we dream of.” His dream was that of a democratic, NATO member country with a growing liberalized economy, low corruption and high living standards. Since then, President… Read More
Vietnam Privatization Slowed by Book Value vs. Market Value Rule
The Ministry of Finance in Vietnam plans to privatize 367 state-owned enterprises by 2015 (as many as 93 SOEs this year). The privatization process is slower than hoped because of the government’s rule that SOEs cannot sell stakes to investors at prices below the SOE’s book value. Government officals are asked to consider allowing… Read More
Source and Use of the Term: Privatization
The Economist magazine introduced the term “privatization” in the 1930s in its coverage of Nazi German economic policy. Voucher privatization has mainly occurred in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe, such as Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Additionally, Privatization from below is/has been an important type of economic growth in transition… Read More
Water for Life – Privatization & Regulation Reduce Child Mortality in Argentina
The experience of Argentinian municipalities in the 1990’s offer lessons for the benefits of privatizing water local government supplies. Some municipalities privatized and others did not, yielding a comparison of results. Those municipalities that privatized the water delivery systems found a greater reduction in child mortality. Studies suggest that the combination of privatization and effective… Read More
Revisiting Privatization, Now is the Time
Background Over the past two decades, the privatization of state enterprises has gone from novelty act to global orthodoxy. More than 100 governments have sold stakes in state companies to private investors, raising $1 trillion and transforming the state’s economic role. Just as privatization’s promise may have been oversold, so its ills have been exaggerated.… Read More