re-nationalization
 

i was reading about the citizens of Berlin have a referendum today ,on the ownership of their energy supply. they want to vote out Vattenfall energy they allegedly mismanaged their energy supply. i think it is time to re-nationalize the energy companies in britain . we know it makes sense. in Germany they have the best employment relations in the world they have work councils and work together .this is why they have the best production statistics they do everything for their country not like the spivs we have in power in the uk. Power For The People

Re: re-nationalization
 

i think its time for you to stop post political threads ;)

Re: re-nationalization
 

Rob - you wish!

Re: re-nationalization
 

I will never stop;) but it shows the politicians and employers have it all wrong in this country . I was highlighting something that would never get covered by the right wing press in this country.

Re: re-nationalization
 

You never started, you only post political drivel,

Re: re-nationalization
 

C'mon is right on this one ... there are certain industries which should be publicly owned, either directly by the govt., or, through Crown Corporations. The two that come immediately to mind are power generation and supply, and rail transportation. Both tend to become monopolies, or at least end up in the hands of a limited number of companies, which then manipulate prices in order to maximize profits ... the gas, as in "petrol", companies are a prime example. They do not compete on the basis of price, even tho', in a capitalist model, this is what is supposed to happen. Major corporations abhor competition; it prevents them from screwing the consumer up the ass.

Here's a good example of a govt. controlled power company that works:

SaskPower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Re: re-nationalization
 

The energy companies were de-regulated so that there would be more competition.
This hasn't happened. All that has happened is that the big six energy firms are running what amounts to a cartel.
Wholesale gas prices have fallen, but yet the CEO's of these robbers are trying to tell us otherwise...and how can it cost more to pipe the supplies into out homes today than it did yesterday...it is the same gas, the same pipes.
Operating a cartel is illegal and that is what the government should be getting to grips with.

The energy companies have not been forthcoming about where the money they are taking from customers is going...and the CEO of OVO says they have hidden their dosh so well that the government will have a hard job finding it...says a lot doesn't it?

Some of our energy firms are in the hands of foreign owners......do you think they would be happy to hand these businesses back...and at what cost??
How would the re-nationalization be funded? By the tax payer? Whichever way it is done it is going to cost you and me...the little people in this equation, lots of money

Re: re-nationalization
 

Point is that it should have been obvious to the government, given the nature of private sector corporations, that the last thing these corporations are interested in is lower energy prices thro' competition. They are interested only in profits for their major shareholders and fat salaries and bonuses for their top executives.

Maybe, while there is still time, folks should be more actively concerned about the creeping privatization in health care and education.

And forget about who owns energy companies ... just take control. The ayrabs did this with their oil resources. Boot out the foreign corporations.

I'm not suggesting that there is no place in any economy for private entrepreneurship ... obviously there is. But there are some areas where it just doesn't work: power generation and delivery, rail transportation, health, education ... and you could probably come up with a few more. Nationalization of everything is misguided socialist ideology. Private ownership of certain vital industries (and Health Care is a vital industry) is misguided tory ideology.

Re: re-nationalization
 

Eric lots of things should be obvious to governments, but they just don't seem to be......if these were things that really affected MP's perhaps something would get sorted, but they clearly live in a different world to those who pay for their services.(and their heating bills)

A lot of hot air is generated by those who frequent the POW..shame it can't be deployed to heat the homes of the old folks...much is said, but little is done.

Re: re-nationalization
 

Tories ... at least the kind of tories holding power in the UK, and lusting after it in the US ... know damn well what the results of their policies will be. Like extreme socialists, they are ideologically driven. (The little guy tends to get a better deal under social democratic parties.)

As an aside, I really don't understand what "New" Labor is:confused: And I don't think I really want to. Seems like a party formed for the benefit of the ordinary citizen has drifted to the center ... perhaps a little farther ... interested in nothing more than votes and power. Hang on; can I hear Keir Hardie spinning in his grave:rolleyes:

Whatever ... common sense (a rarity, I know) suggests that the best economy is a mixed economy .... a mixture of nationalization and private enterprise. Concentration of power in the hands of the few, whether those few be major corporations, or govt. bureaucrats, is wrong. But government has to take an active role in the economy. They can't just sit back and let the robber barons rob us blind.