Comment on Water firms ask for bill rises of between 24% and 91%
steeznson@lemmy.world 5 months ago
If it was a real private market they’d let the firm fail and the investors would take a haircut. Then either someone who could turn a profit while running a decent/affordable service would take over; or the govt would.
We’re stuck in the worst of both worlds where it’s a privatised monopoly which is unable to fail.
curiousaur@reddthat.com 5 months ago
Exactly correct. We need to let them all fail.
ThePyroPython@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Then goodbye every UK resident’s pension that are invested in the water companies.
That’s why they’re “too big to fail”. You let them fail, you’ll throw people who are about 40 to 50 years old into further reliance on the state pension.
Better to prosecute the C-level executives and take the company back into public ownership.
GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 5 months ago
I’ve pondered on this a bit.
Maybe the funds that thought it was appropriate to put for-profit public utilities in a pension fund should be the responsible parties, along with the water company executives they put in position to facilitate the asset stripping.
ThePyroPython@lemmy.world 5 months ago
That’s something I’d like to see. Never going to happen in the UK.
In the 2008 financial crisis, I think Iceland was the only country to jail their irresponsible bankers.
echodot@feddit.uk 5 months ago
A proper pension is diversified. They don’t invest entirely in one sector of business.
ThePyroPython@lemmy.world 5 months ago
That’s a fair point I hadn’t considered.