Privatization in Britain brings winners, losers
- Univ. of Leicester (United Kingdom)
Since privatizing British Gas in 1986, the British government has discovered that not everyone benefits from the competition that the privatization framework promoted, writes Catherine M. Waddams Price, a senior economics lecturer at the University of Leicester in Leicester, England. The sale of British Gas (BG) was part of an aggressive program launched by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to sell Britain`s public assets to raise revenues for the government. {open_quotes}A company with more than 100,000 employees and annual revenues of almost 8 billion pounds (12 billion U.S. dollars) had been transformed from a government-owned utility to a private company in less than two years,{close_quotes} reports Price. According to Price, one consequence of privatization has been that large users who negotiate individual contracts now pay proportionately less than small users who are subject to regulated tariffs. The outcome of the emerging distribution and equity debate will help shape the United Kingdom`s gas industry in the years ahead.
- OSTI ID:
- 75489
- Journal Information:
- Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, Journal Name: Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 10; ISSN FARPEL; ISSN 0887-8218
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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