Oh brother. Privatisation being pushed in the wake of the NZ earthquake.

[KamaAina]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10709598

Giving an initial indication of the effect of last week's quake on Government's finances, Finance Minister Bill English said "there could be issues around the timing" of infrastructure plans but in general the Government remained committed to the programme.

Mr English also suggested the Government was looking at the partial sale of state-owned power companies to free cash for Christchurch's recovery....

Asked whether proceeds from partial asset sales could be earmarked for Christchurch repairs, Mr English said they "would certainly help" if the sales went ahead....

"But in terms of the ability to fund infrastructure without going back to the financial markets, the mixed ownership model may turn out to be reasonably timely."

Unbelievable. The last time they tried this, the private operator Mercury Energy failed to maintain the power infrastructure serving downtown Auckland, leading to a catastrophic blackout that shut down the country's business and financial heart for six weeks. In the words of the immortal Yogi Berra, "It's like deja vu all over again!" :eyes:

[leftstreet]

1. "mixed ownership" the People subsidize it, the Rich profit from it

:grr:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. k 4 Auckland story

[FSogol]

3. Shock Doctrine, Baby! n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. And world wide, have ya noticed?

[texshelters]

5. Yea, that's it

disaster capitalism is all many capitalists have left. Few have new ideas or want to fund wind farms or organic ranching or anything built on hope and change.

Peace,
Tex Shelters