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Originally Posted by garinda
Lol, as a Thatcherite l'd have thought you'd have applauded his free market entrepreneurial savvy?  |
Garinda, in order to have a "free market" you need a pre-condition known as transparency...in other words you can see what it is you're getting. If you go and get a gallon of petrol you know what it is you're getting and how much you're paying; you also know that in 6 months or a years time exactly how much the petrol company has made in profits.
The problem with Branson's companies is that there is no transparency. We do not know whether each individual company makes a profit or a loss, or to what extent one company subsidises another or makes charges on another. His companies are all offshore and we simply cannot see what is going on. That is why the government don't trust him and why the market people in the City do not trust him and that is why he has not and will not get awarded anything as important as the lottery.