Selling The Family Silver

Selling the Family Silver is, moreover, the controversial 'warts and all' story of Britain's privatization programme, past and future. The chairmen, the cheats, the fanfares and the flops - from all sides of the political, social and economic coin, the author examines the contentious demise of nationalization and the real effectiveness of the private giants that have replaced it, finally posing the fundamental question: Has privatization worked?

Selling the Family Silver is, moreover, the controversial 'warts and all' story of Britain's privatization programme, past and future. The chairmen, the cheats, the fanfares and the flops - from all sides of the political, social and economic coin, the author examines the contentious demise of nationalization and the real effectiveness of the private giants that have replaced it, finally posing the fundamental question: Has privatization worked?

Auteur

Colin Chapman, one of Britain's leading financial journalists, presents a straightforward yet authorative explanation of the different phases which turn a public sector enterprise into a fully-fledged privatized plc: commercializatioin, 'corporatization' and the so-called 'fattening up' prior to flotation. There are special sections on price fixing as well as on the role of privatization in Eastern Europe and the Third World.

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It is the cornerstone of all Conservative governments, but particularly of Mrs Thatcher's. Whether it flies through the sky or is pumped from the ground - nothing, it seems, can escape Mrs T's passion for privatization.

Selling the Family Silver is a strident analysis of Britain's privatization programme of the past decade. Written by leading financial writer and broadcaster, Colin Chapman, it offers a forthright but authoritative view of the new fully privatized plcs.
-Are they revitalized, super-efficient organizations packed with potential, or simply the same old organization, with a new logo and free from the safeguarding scrutiny of state officials?
-What is the real value - and cost - of these major, and often controversial, sell-offs?
-Who has benefited most? Those who purchased the issues, or those who organized, backed and promoted them?
-Are the new corporations any more competitive than the nationalized monoliths of gas, telecommunications and water, or are they private monopolies?
-Has privatization been a vindication of Thatcherite policy, or an opportunity magnificently wasted?

Following the British government's proselytizing lead, national and local governments the world over are selling off organizations once thought to be the indisputable siblings of central government.
This book further examines the effects of privatization policies beyond Britain; will privatization help to stabilize the economies of the reformed Eastern Bloc countries? What impact has privatization had on Third World economies?

And what's next for Britain? Will privatization transform local government? Is privatization the answer for more efficient British Rail? Is there much of a case for keeping the mail service in the public sector? Will a privatized education system restore confidence of both teachers and parents? Can tax collection be made more efficient by privatizing the Inland Revenue? And what about a privatized monarchy?

Résumé
Selling the Family Silver is, moreover, the controversial 'warts and all' story of Britain's privatization programme, past and future. The chairmen, the cheats, the fanfares and the flops - from all sides of the political, social and economic coin, the author examines the contentious demise of nationalization and the real effectiveness of the private giants that have replaced it, finally posing the fundamental question: Has privatization worked?