Privatising a nation's utilities - the 17 point playbook to unearned profit

1) Start claiming that nationalised industries are'nt competitive, customer focused, efficient, effective, inventive or productive 

2) Claim that once privatised a competitive market will deliver all of these things, (ignore any evidence that monopolies don't deliver such) 

3) Privatise the nationalised industry and include selling shares to the ordinary punter so you can claim its for the benefit of all 

4) Create a regulator with few teeth, head it up with one of your mates, make it clear you don't actually want them to regulate

5) Allow regulatory capture to occur so that, in effect, there is no regulator asking awkward questions about service or value 

6) Create a complicated web of owning companies so the privatised utility companies can pretend they're not giving their shareholders massive returns

7) Stand by and do nothing as privatised utility companies use their almost guaranteed revenue stream to borrow large amounts of money which they use to give excessive profits to their shareholders 

8) Stand by and do nothing as privatised utility companies flout legislation on their service or  environmental obligations

9) Stand by and do nothing as privatised utility companies make the minimal investment that they can get away with 

10) Stand by and do nothing as privatised utility companies pay their directors top market salaries and bonuses for sub market customer service

11) Allow the cost of the utility to increase at a pace well ahead of inflation or any true increase in production costs 

12) Allow all of this to go on for 30 years or so 

13) When it becomes clear that the privatised utility companies have fleeced their customers and the government talk tough but do little 

14) Allow the privatised companies to claim its all to do with the state of the infrastructure they inherited 

 15) And as shareholders refuse to stump up the equity required to start making the required infrastructure improvements. talk about government bail outs/take overs rather than suggesting shareholders take a haircut or threatening legislation to recover excessive unearned profits

16) Instead say prices will need to increase to fund the invesment that should have already occured

17) Whatever you do, don't allow your company to be put into special administration, as that protects service rather than protecting the company and the shareholders

 Photo by elaine alex on Unsplash