Privatization in Europe

LONDON—The U.K. government on Thursday said it would sell a majority stake in state-owned postal service Royal Mail Group Ltd. through an initial public offering in the coming weeks, formalizing one of the biggest privatizations the country has seen in decades.

The sale is part of the U.K. coalition government's plan to sell off state assets to help cut the country's budget deficit.

The privatization of Britain's postal service follows similar moves by some European neighbors. Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands have all privatized their postal services in part or fully. In June, Belgium's postal service, Bpost, raised €2.9 billion ($3.9 billion) in an IPO. By contrast, the U.S. Postal Service is still government-owned.

For once I agree with the Europeans.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 0690830242

Probably a good idea. Think UPS FedEx and DHL would bid for the USPS if they could set rates and renegotiate contracts.

FredHayek wrote: Probably a good idea. Think UPS FedEx and DHL would bid for the USPS if they could set rates and renegotiate contracts.

Bwa ha ha ha ha...Workers at UPS and Fedex have a lot better wages and benifits packages than the people working for the US postal service..Are they are gonna open up the contracts so they could pay USPS employee's more Fred? lol

Rick posts something incredibly dumb, (its like selling your car to pay your bills) then Fred chimes in with an equally idiotic" Probably a good idea"...



It would be comical if it wasn't so sad

Once again your ignorance is astounding. Have you ever heard of FedEx Ground? Or FedEx Home Delivery? With FedEx Ground, they are contract employees who are paid by package and even have to provide their own trucks.
And with minimal government influence, they could also eliminate Saturday delivery and maybe even a Wednesday.

UNDER MODERATION wrote:

FredHayek wrote: Probably a good idea. Think UPS FedEx and DHL would bid for the USPS if they could set rates and renegotiate contracts.

Bwa ha ha ha ha...Workers at UPS and Fedex have a lot better wages and benifits packages than the people working for the US postal service..Are they are gonna open up the contracts so they could pay USPS employee's more Fred? lol

Rick posts something incredibly dumb, (its like selling your car to pay your bills) then Fred chimes in with an equally idiotic" Probably a good idea"...



It would be comical if it wasn't so sad

You're one of these people that always praises the "righteous" moves of European countries, yet for some reason you have a problem with me doing the same. Do you really have NOTHING to add to any topic unless you can put someone down?

This place has been doing better lately with some actual topic debate, then you roll up on your pink tricycle and crap on the sidewalk.

Rick wrote: For once I agree with the Europeans.

How well do you know the Europeans? Your subject, on a broader scale, really deals with social democracies.

Many Americans (well, conservative Americans) have narrow opinions on the socialism of Europe, without understanding the scale of it.

Most European countries are not much bigger than one of our states, and some are actually smaller. They deal with smaller populations, smaller manufacturing base, smaller employment issues... really, they are like our single states. And this size and autonomy works to their advantage in having a social democratic government system.

At that scale socialism does work. And it's rather fluid. Find an English language news site that deals with another country and read about their politics, especially through an election cycle. You really don't understand the system unless you immerse yourself in that brand of politics.

And if all be said, European socialism is really a modified and watered down version of what a full blown socialistic country would look like.

European socialism wouldn't work here, we are too tied to a Republic/Federal system, but it has it's merits in Europe. And like I said above, it's fluid, it adjusts. For a matter of fact, your article that you linked to proves that point.

Good point. Small population countries homogeneous populations easier to justify helping out neighbors. But immigration is making Europe reconsider the current levels.