tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post8104365696375281909..comments2024-03-22T11:55:50.335+13:00Comments on Not PC: Partial privatisations by a government without couragePeter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-60073518192185365482011-01-28T22:34:47.046+13:002011-01-28T22:34:47.046+13:00This commentary should be required reading for eve...This commentary should be required reading for every New Zealander who is even remotely interested in their future.<br /> Want to really fix the problem? Listen up. Eliminate all bailouts, subsidies, giveaways and support systems – both to business and to labor.<br />Abolish every government agency that begins with a letter of the alphabet. Then abolish the rest of them.rivoniaboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13512979926515811466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-15714185819070215862011-01-27T23:22:38.382+13:002011-01-27T23:22:38.382+13:00Isn't the problem here that whether in governm...Isn't the problem here that whether in government hands or private hands it's very difficult to structure the market away from some form of monopoly/oligopoly situation?<br /><br />In private hands there is incentive to restrict supply, particularly given replacement plant is large capital expenditure.<br />Exhibit A would be the Enron experience which had the state of California in brown out conditions.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#Involvement_of_EnronVnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-54089945867300579502011-01-27T18:54:15.184+13:002011-01-27T18:54:15.184+13:00Dave, we had that, look at the results. Electricit...Dave, we had that, look at the results. Electricity prices 400% higher than when Labour entered office. Who had effective control and price fixation abilities? 80% generation government owned, so effectively a govt market. Who controlled the market to stop new players entering the market? Yep you guessed it, the govt via their obstructionist and therefore despised RMA (even they despise it, proven by making it not count for anything they want to do).<br />You are correct in that cheap electricity results in better business, as it becomes more worthwhile to invest in non-labour capital, when that capital is cheaper to run than direct labour. The good thing about this is that it frees up that labour to perform other duties, and as we all know the more you produce of valued products, then the better off you will be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-618569146472603502011-01-27T13:32:19.748+13:002011-01-27T13:32:19.748+13:00Any discussion about 'value' and 'perf...Any discussion about 'value' and 'performance' is just am exercise in figure shuffling because the important fact is not what the notional value is, but what it can earn in the real world. Unlike the US which has an international-standard currency and is so large as to be (albeit mistakenly) able to simply print more money at will, New Zealand is a tiny economy which surely will succeed or fail on its exports of tangible (not just notional) goods and services to other economies. So, as electricity for example connot be physically exported, surely the best plan would be to keep it 100% in government (i.e. the citizens) ownership and even reduce the price of power in order to give NZ manufacturers the edge. This would also to make NZ an attractive place for overseas companies to do business.Dave Mannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15264331694328629975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-59545925166500330852011-01-27T11:38:27.662+13:002011-01-27T11:38:27.662+13:00Wonder how the Greens can oppose privatisation of ...Wonder how the Greens can oppose privatisation of businesses they hate, such as Solid Energy?<br /><br />The hysteria around all of this speaks volumes about the intellectual vacuousness of the MSM and the left.Libertyscotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12741049550997300680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-67031780063146516292011-01-27T11:03:46.867+13:002011-01-27T11:03:46.867+13:00In principle, I agree with you. The problem is the...In principle, I agree with you. The problem is the MSM which would be full of stories about selling our heritage.<br />JeffWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-80738819799197114922011-01-26T15:38:15.782+13:002011-01-26T15:38:15.782+13:00Could you please include your sources for your com...Could you please include your sources for your comparison of the market cap and govt assets? <br /><br />Also, how would you take into account the value of NZ businesses that aren't listed on the stock exchange? They're still private businesses, after all.Danielnoreply@blogger.com