Leading UK Water Utility Is In Extreme Financial Distress

Privatization with competition was the mantra for 1980s neoconservatives. In the US, they wanted to sell the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and municipal water suppliers. In Mexico they sold the telephone company and in Argentina, well, everything. In Spain and Italy they sold off holdings dating back to the fascist regimes. In the UK, though, privatization was an ideological trophy for the Thatcher government. The privatizations and industry reorganizations produced mixed results, good for investors, so-so for consumers and a bonanza for the…