Here we go again

[man in the corner shop]

Just as with the banks, privatise the profits and nationalise the losses.
It's what capitalism does. And people don't bat an eyelid.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68682198

[CaptainFantastico]

Rats fleeing the ship now they know they won’t be able to use the facade of being an MP as a means of stripping public money via private services for their own pockets.

[Pontificator]

"The nine shareholders of Thames, which is £18 billion in debt and the most complained against and polluting water company in the country, are led by the Canadian pension fund Omers. They also include the sovereign wealth funds of China and Abu Dhabi and the retirement schemes of university academics and former BT employees"

[Protheroe]

Just as with the banks, privatise the profits and nationalise the losses.
It's what capitalism does. And people don't bat an eyelid.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68682198

Government nationalised the banks losses. If markets had functioned as they ought to then the banks would've gone bust. Don't blame capitalism, blame government.

For the water companies, blame regulators and our nineteenth century sewers.

Capitalism has lifted billions out of extreme poverty world wide. We'd be far worse off without it.

[Derek Hardballs]

Profits for shareholders and senior management before every other consideration whether that is the quality of service a company provides or value for money for customers is why so many things in the U.K. don’t work properly. Be they water, public transport, energy, prison, care, universities they are all prioritising profit at the expense of the product they produce or service they provide.

A case in point is a well know airline who moved away from being all about the quality of their product and towards maximising shareholders profits. The result of which is a company that has seen its safety record tarnished with disastrous consequences.

Until companies and particularly those that work to provide key services go back to prioritising the quality of the work/service they provide we shall continue to see private sector companies provide poorer, more expensive services and goods that eventually ends up with governments (tax payers) picking up the pieces.

[CaptainFantastico]

Just as with the banks, privatise the profits and nationalise the losses.
It's what capitalism does. And people don't bat an eyelid.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68682198

Government nationalised the banks losses. If markets had functioned as they ought to then the banks would've gone bust. Don't blame capitalism, blame government.

For the water companies, blame regulators and our nineteenth century sewers.

Capitalism has lifted billions out of extreme poverty world wide. We'd be far worse off without it.

By the very same processes that it lifts some out it creates an equal amount that then come into being and exist within it. Like everything else in the world, it has an equal and opposite reaction.

[man in the corner shop]

Just as with the banks, privatise the profits and nationalise the losses.
It's what capitalism does. And people don't bat an eyelid.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68682198

Government nationalised the banks losses. If markets had functioned as they ought to then the banks would've gone bust. Don't blame capitalism, blame government.

For the water companies, blame regulators and our nineteenth century sewers.

Capitalism has lifted billions out of extreme poverty world wide. We'd be far worse off without it.

Depends how you see government. I see it as simply as an agent of capital, doing capitalism's thing. You seem to see it as in some sort of independent or benign authority. I wouldn't agree with that.

I am with you on allowing banks to have gone bust though. Though I think it is a minority view.

[Ossian]

I'll continue to blame that particular style of capitalism for the recklessness and lack of diligence which contributed to the scale of the financial sector's losses.

Hope that's okay.

[Protheroe]

By the very same processes that it lifts some out it creates an equal amount that then come into being and exist within it. Like everything else in the world, it has an equal and opposite reaction.

Can you say that again in English?

---

Depends how you see government. I see it as simply as an agent of capital, doing capitalism's thing. You seem to see it as in some sort of independent or benign authority. I wouldn't agree with that.

I am with you on allowing banks to have gone bust though. Though I think it is a minority view.

I see government as a malign influence on many markets and the outcomes of markets for consumers. 

The 2019 Tory intake hasn't helped. Most of them have little or no experience of business or enterprise.

---

I'll continue to blame that particular style of capitalism for the recklessness and lack of diligence which contributed to the scale of the financial sector's losses.

Hope that's okay.

That's perfectly OK. The Banks' behaviour existed within the regulatory frameworks created for it. The UK's regulatory framework created by Brown and continued by the Tories has also led to moribund returns from the FTSE and encouraged dangerous behaviour from pension funds in their bondholdings - as illustrated by one of the unintended consequences of Kwarteng's ludicrous Budget.

Governments' role ought to be to enable and regulate markets to ensure fair competition. Instead it interferes.

[Tom Joad]

Just as with the banks, privatise the profits and nationalise the losses.
It's what capitalism does. And people don't bat an eyelid.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68682198

Government nationalised the banks losses. If markets had functioned as they ought to then the banks would've gone bust. Don't blame capitalism, blame government.

For the water companies, blame regulators and our nineteenth century sewers.

Capitalism has lifted billions out of extreme poverty world wide. We'd be far worse off without it.

1/ Re Banks. I too would not have been so keen to bail them out.  It is possible to blame both capitalism and government. In fact, it is the only sensible opinion.

2/ The regulators have been toothless in the face of such greed. Maybe we should look at the capitalists too? The tories sold off the water companies at a time Thames Water was not in debt. Since 1989 they have ran up debts of £15 Billion while paying out bonuses and dividends. Since Macquarie sold it on, Thames Water claims it has paid no dividends to "external shareholders". It has however reportedly paid over £200M to other companies within the group. 

So are you saying that capitalism is a very good thing and needs to never be regulated? Or that capitalism should over_ride government ministers? Because it looks to me like capitalism fosters either, or both, greed and incompetence and should be subject to all the controls we can muster in order to protect the electorate. In the case of Thames Water, the greed has actually strayed beyond criminality and those responsible should be held to account.