ST Alpha - "But the purpose of government isn't to make profits that ease the taxpayer burden, it's to provide solutions where it would be inefficient for the" (Reading a Post)

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In response to "yup, people always want to sell our assets up here and then get confused why companies want to purchase Govt organizations" by Beaker

But the purpose of government isn't to make profits that ease the taxpayer burden, it's to provide solutions where it would be inefficient for the

Posted by Roger More (aka rogermore) Nov 16 '16, 08:10

private sector to do so.

There's a rationale for keeping power corps government-owned - they are natural monopolies, and a private company would extract monopoly rents from consumers. But similar outcomes can be achieved through privatising and then regulating (though in the US, price-regulating industry is a non-starter)

The rationale for gov't owned liquor stores is harder to maintain - it was originally about controlling quality and supply because of the negative effects of alcohol - people spending too much money on drink, people getting sick from moonshine, etc. Ontario's liquor seller, LCBO, literally stands for LLiquor Control Board of Ontario. That rationale is harder to justify today.

Responses:

I'll take $100M a year forever for my Province over $1B now and someone else gets the $100M a year regardless of why it was originally done -- nm - Beaker Nov 16, 08:19 4
- Well, sale of NB Liquor is problematic because you're selling a monopoly, and it has the most value to the buyer if the monopoly is maintained. - Roger More Nov 16, 08:27 3
  - Lower prices is always promised (for every Govt move) but I don't think it has ever actually occurred. - Beaker Nov 16, 08:30 2
    - Yeah, it's about "how do you create a competitive market?" and that is the last thing that gets any attention. - Roger More Nov 16, 08:59
    - and NBL is actually pretty good at choice, tons of local microbrew options now. The big thing will be the beer lawsuit and buying in Quebec - Beaker Nov 16, 08:31

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But the purpose of government isn't to make profits that ease the taxpayer burden, it's to provide solutions where it would be inefficient for the

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