Privatisation and the rise of capitalism
Privatisation has a long history, starting with monarchs and rulers selling state assets and licences to private individuals. But more recently it was an idea that blossomed in the 1980s.
The UK’s Thatcher governments, between 1979 and 1990, embarked on selling state assets in mass public offerings of shares, swapping ongoing profit streams of nationalised industries for windfall revenues that were used to plug holes in fragile public finances.
In the process of marketing the equity, the UK government created an army of small shareholders.
This did not quite succeed in cementing capitalism into the hearts of the British public, but it certainly created a culture that respected the primacy of market forces ...
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