Privatization essays

Privatization essays To fully appreciate and understand the concept of privatization, Kwamina (1988) remarks, that it is first necessary to go back several centuries to the eighteenth century, to the economic doctrine of Adam Smith and the classical economists, since privatization is seen as a modern day restatement of this doctrine. This doctrine stresses the virtues of economic individualism and private enterprise and sees competition and impersonal market forces as determining and regulating the economic system (prices, wages, employment levels etc.). Indeed, although privatization might be the new buzz word, Pack (1987:532) asserts that it is important to recognize that it is not a new phenomenon. It has been found, (Chamberlin and Jackson, 1987:586; Kwamina, 1988:5) that the doctrine of privatization was actively practiced and promoted by the Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations in the United States of America and the Thatcher Administration in Britain. Interest for privatization thus grew from the widely heralded deregulation initiatives espoused by these administrations, particularly minimizing the responsibility of the state or public sector and transferring this responsibility to the private sector. Hence, some have argued (Pack, 1987:523; Parry, 1990: 11) that the impetus for privatization resides in an opposition to further growth of the public sector and the belief that the private sector would be a more efficient producer. Thus, it is suggested (Sappington and Stiglitz, 1987: 567) that the recent trend toward privatization reflects a judgment that previous assignments were incorrect and that some activities within the public sector might be carried out better within the private sector. Privatization in broad terms can be defined as the transfer of assets and service responsibility from the public to the private sector (Poole and Fixler, 1987: 612). Yet, Ramanadham (1989: 4) suggests that the concept is far wider a...