From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Sun Jun 20 2004 - 02:46:07 BST
Hi all,
Someone in the forum has commented recently that corporations are
"dynamic" and therefore of the highest quality. I'm afraid I don't
quite see this, unless what we mean by DQ is profit-maximization, no
matter what the social costs.
Anyway, here's a recent email reply to a question about the choice
between private corporations and state ownership. The question
follows the reply.
As usual, any thoughtful comments will be appreciated.
Best,
Mark Steven Heyman (msh)
Reply from NC,
The choices are not limited to private tyranny and state ownership.
There are many others -- various forms of worker ownership and self-
management, for example.
When the privatization mania began as part of the "Washington
consensus," there were serious studies by well-respected
international economists on whether there was any empirical basis for
the belief that privatization is more efficient. They could find
nothing. I know of nothing serious since. Both kinds of ownership can
be efficient, both can be corrupt and inefficient. In many cases that
we know of very well, it is vastly less efficient: a core problem of
the American economy right now is rapidly escalating health care
costs, to no slight extent attributable to the highly inefficient
privatization of the system. Furthermore, private tyrannies typically
rely very heavily on state subsidy and protection, massively at the
cutting edge of the economy. The distinctions are by no means clear.
To the extent that a country is democratic -- not just in form, but
in functioning as well -- economic activities will be influenced by
the concerns of the public. That's true by definition. Specifically,
firms will be influenced by the concerns of the people working in
them. Whether that's "efficient" or not depends on which of the
highly ideological notions of "efficiency" one wishes to employ, and
is a marginal issue at best. Is it "efficient" to permit huge
unaccountable private tyrannies like energy corporations,
manufacturing firms, pharmaceutical industries, etc., to use their
enormous profits to carry out massive propaganda campaigns to drive
people to actions that may well destroy the hope of decent existence
for our grandchildren, not to speak of what they do to us?
By whatever measure of "efficiency" one likes, it is at most a
consideration, one of many, and it would be hard to argue that it
overrides freedom, justice, democracy and other fundamental human
values. Suppose it can be shown (as widely argued) that slavery was
quite "efficient," by standard (and highly ideological) measures. Do
we therefore favor slavery?
Noam Chomsky
From: "mariusz_doszyn doszyn" <mariusz.doszyn@op.pl>
Hello,
Now in Poland there is debate about big enterprises being privatized
(these which haven't been yet). There are many attacks on politicians
who for whatever reasons don't want these being privatized. In one of
the mainstream newspaper I've read that state ownership is wrong and
besides that if state own firms they might be influenced by workers
demands which make these firms not efficient.... Could you comment
this....
Best wishes,
Mariusz Doszyn
Poland
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