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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
When you say industries were privatized can you give me some examples? I'm understanding that power utilities are an industry, those recently were privatized. I am against such a change since a I see it a basic need like gas and water. It should cover it's operational costs and not make a substantial profit or if it does it is to increase and care for the infrastructure of its system. Is this the same things that were originally nationalized in your post above?
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In the US, things were a bit more complicated than elsewhere because several companies were chartered by the state, funded by the state, but run as private companies. Think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or most of the original railroad companies, or canals. Of the things that were public, most of them were owned at the city or state level. As such, privatization was an uneven process. Some cities and states sold companies off pretty quickly, but others may never have done so.
A few examples of notable privatizations are the Japan Post office, the Japanese telephone company (which had a national monopoly), British Telecom (which also had a monopoly), and so on. Many telecom, transport, oil and gas, and banking companies were either created by the state or nationalized around WWII.