Is the tide now turning against privatisation? In the 1990s, a wave of sell-offs swept away countless publicly owned enterprises (though privatisation's fans would say that "enterprise" was the wrong word to describe them).
Hard-pressed governments everywhere sold power stations and electricity grids to private companies. If the taxpayer could not afford the huge bills for investment and modernisation, then why not let capitalism bear the burden - and reap the benefits? So ran the argument.
But now the trend is being reversed in Germany. In a referendum in Hamburg a month ago, 51% voted to buy back the energy grid the city sold.
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