The promise and perils of privatisation: making sense of it all

The chapter traces lessons learned from the privatisation debates and then discusses the enduring influence of privatisation. This chapter argues that the old conception of privatisation as selling off government utilities and outsourcing public sector services is a figment of history. The topic of privatisation has entered a new financial, social, and political context. The old privatisation policy battles and political priorities were fought around the need for one-off state revenue shortfalls and arguments about capital efficiency. Future policy battles and political priorities are likely to increasingly be fought around the day-to-day continuing resource needs of governments and civil society groups to meet increased citizen expectations, international political instability, and the apparent irrelevance of efficiency arguments in the face of the wealth gained through the financial and economic systems. This will be the new battleground for privatisation in the twenty-first century.