Blog reader KJ shares his thoughts with us:
Re liberalisation/de-regulation: I think the general literature is pretty clear on this that over the past quarter century or more liberalisation has meant de-regulation. It was said that over-regulation was the problem, hence the need to liberalise, i.e., de-regulate.
This should not be confused with competition and a competition policy. Many comments on this, and the previous, post appear to have confused a liberalisation stance with a competition policy stance. In many areas, liberalisation has, in fact, created monopolies, and allowed monopolies to flourish. One clear example is the media: the Murdoch group controls Fox, Star, the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, The Times (UK), Far Eastern Economic Review, etc. The five largest banks in the US — most of them in deep s… — control over 70 per cent of the business, are busy raising credit card fees, cutting credit lines, etc.
Should there be a competition policy? Yes.
As for whether the foreign boys will do better than the local, well, in the first instance, at this time and the medium term, there isn’t going to be much investment.
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