Privatization

Privatization transfers ownership or control of assets, services, or enterprises from public authorities to private entities. It ranges from selling state-owned firms to contracting out public services.

Asset sale: A transaction in which an owner sells an asset to another party. An outright sale transfers a public asset into private ownership.
Margaret Thatcher: British prime minister from 1979 to 1990 who pursued extensive state-asset sales. Her governments made large-scale privatization a defining British policy.
Privatization of British Rail: The restructuring and transfer of British Rail services and assets into private operation during the 1990s. Rail illustrates how privatization can separate infrastructure, operations, and service contracts.
Economic efficiency: The allocation of resources that produces the greatest feasible value from available inputs. Efficiency is a central claimed benefit and a frequent test of privatization.
Nationalization: The transfer of privately owned assets or enterprises into public ownership. It reverses privatization's direction of ownership transfer.
Initial public offering: The first sale of a company's shares to the public on a stock exchange. Governments have used share offerings to sell stakes in state-owned enterprises.
Ronald Reagan: United States president from 1981 to 1989 associated with deregulation and a smaller role for government. His administration helped popularize market-oriented reforms, though Britain led major asset sales.
Telecommunications privatization: The transfer of publicly owned telecommunications providers or assets into private ownership or control. Telecom sales often accompanied competition reforms and rapid technological change.
Natural monopoly: A market in which one supplier can serve demand at lower cost than multiple competing suppliers. Privatizing a natural monopoly can replace public ownership with a need for strong regulation.
Public ownership: Ownership of assets or enterprises by government or another public body. It is the ownership arrangement privatization replaces.

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