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1999087 No.1999087 [Reply] [Original]

I might be sounding dense here, but could the UK's National Health Service be floated on the stock market, with the government holding the majority of stocks?

Of course this makes it more possible for any cabinet to privatise it, i.e. sell their stocks.

I dont know. Good or bad idea?

>> No.1999137
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1999137

>>1999087

>> No.1999156

>>1999087

Would be political suicide

And makes no sense practically, the NHS is very cost efficient for the UK economy, despite waiting times etc

>> No.1999162

>>1999087
>dude just privatise it ahaha

>> No.1999176

It's not really a true privatisation anyway, since the company maintains certain market privileges

It's just a way to scam taxpayers in the long term

>> No.1999182

>>1999087
Why would you want this
What would be the benefit

>> No.1999194

>>1999182
I dont want this, i want to know if and how it would work.

Or why it wouldnt work.

So far nothing enlightened has been said

>> No.1999199

>>1999194
What advantage would it offer?
You are asking us to prove it's a retarded idea when you haven't even established why you think it wouldn't be.

>> No.1999211

>>1999194

It wouldn't work, the NHS is a mid 20th Century "free at the point of use" institution

It's far more likely that the UK government introduces tax-advantaged health insurance wrappers and the private sector is expanded that way

NHS hospitals already draw in big income from offering private procedures

>> No.1999248

>>1999199
It would bring investors and investment

It would lead to wider ownership

In general, there would be more people - some of which will be rich - who are attached to the success of the NHS

E.g. when there is low supply and a need for capital, the government would only have to pay about 60% of taxpayers money. The rest will come from investors desperate to see their investment do well.

>> No.1999258

>>1999248
>the success of the NHS
I'm not British so I don't know much about the NHS.
Isn't it just government-funded healthcare?
Doesn't that mean it's unprofitable by design?

>> No.1999265

>>1999211
It can be free to the point of use, but to what extent?

Accounting for inflation, gov spending on the NHS as a total and as a proportion has increased every year.

We can keep the source of income you mentioned, but it can only be free up to a point.

>> No.1999278

>>1999194
Deciding whether privatising the NHS would work or not depends on whether you're looking at it from a shareholder perspective or from average Joe's perspective.

Privatisation of society's core services are usually pitched as having cost and time saving benefits due to "the free market" being able to provide good and services better than a central government. The intended shareholders would be held up as "mums and dads".

In reality though, the shareholders would end up being institutional investors who would demand big returns on their investment, pushing the prices of health services up. In addition, cost savings who occur through the slashing of staff and service provision, resulting in a longer waiting lists and lower quality operations. Eventually, the health service gets stripped bare and the investors bail, forcing the government to step in and pick up the pieces and incurring high costs to get everything running again.

In summary, privatisation of the NHS would be great if you are a shareholder, but pretty shit if you're the average guy on the street

>> No.1999287

>>1999258
>Doesn't that mean it's unprofitable by design?

Healthcare is a necessity

Government healthcare achieves economies of scale unattainable by the private sector

>>1999265
>It can be free to the point of use, but to what extent?

As a proportion of GDP, UK spending on the NHS is stagnant or falling: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2016/01/how-does-nhs-spending-compare-health-spending-internationally

>> No.1999333

>>1999287
>Government healthcare achieves economies of scale unattainable by the private sector
But how do they make money if they don't charge?
I'm not seeing how this is attractive to private investors.

>> No.1999370

>>1999278
This.

I feel the NHS privatisation argument only works in theory with free market ideas, the conservatives and shareholders would mismanage the process and turn it from competitive consumer-focused capitalism into crony corporatism that focuses purely on bottom line profits.

I reckon though any shareholder that did have a theoretical stake in a private NHS would become the most scrutinized shareholder in the UK.

>> No.2000226

>>1999087
Wait until the 8th of June OP, if the Tories win it may just go completely private and thus companies involved may have stocks on the market.