Optimising The Role Of The Public Sector: Constraints and Remedial Policies
| Author | Leo Pliatzky |
| Published date | 01 January 1988 |
| Date | 01 January 1988 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/095207678800300105 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
35
Optimising
The
Role
Of
The
Public
Sector:
Constraints
and
Remedial
Policies
by
Sir
Leo
Pliatzky
*
This article
is
based
on
a
lecture
given
to
a
seminar
at
the
Asian
Development
Bank
in
Manila
in
July
1987
and
a
version
also
appears
in
the
Asian
Development
Review.
How
should
public
sector
industries
be run?
Does
it
matter
if
they
make
a
loss?
Is
it
possible
for
them
to
be
run
efficiently
when
governments
are
involved?
Is
privatisation
the
only
solution?
In
Britain,
this
debate
is
largely
closed,
for
the
time
being
at
least,
but
I
sense
that
these
questions
are
live
issues in
many
of
the
developing
and
also
in
the
newly
industrialising
countries
of
Asia.
The
public
sector
as
a
whole
embraces
not
only
the
state-owned
industries
of
a
commercial
or
quasi-commercial
character,
but
also
the
free
or
subsidised
public
services
such
as
education
or
health
care.
However,
the
role
and
problems
of
the
British
welfare
state
are
of
little
interest
to
the
development-minded.
To
the
extent
that
they
see
any
relevance
in
the
experience
of
Britain,
the
first
country
to
indus-
trialise,
those
concerned
with
Asian
development
discern
it
rather
in
the
reasons
why
Britain,
having
undertaken
nationalisation
for
so
long,
is
now
committed
to
privatisation.
Britain
since
1979
Yet
there
should
be
some
relevance
in
what
has
happened
in
Britain
on
both
fronts
-
the
publicly
owned
industries
and
the
public
services -
in
the
past
eight
years
since
the
Conservative
government
of
Margaret
Thatcher,
dedicated
to
rolling
back
the
frontier
of
the
state,
first
came
to
office.
One
major
element
in
the
govern-
ment’s
crusade
was
a
drive
to
cut
expenditure
on
the
public
services
and,
thus,
to
reduce
taxation.
Another
main
element,
but
much
less
prominent
at
the
beginning,
was
the
privatisaition
of
the
nationalised
industries.
An
important
element
has
also
been
the
sale
of
council
houses
to
their
tenants
on
favourable
terms;
thus
conferring
the
status
of
home
ownership,
with
its
middle
class
connotations,
on
a
large
number
of
former
tenants
living
in
local
authority
estates
and
generally
regarded
as
tradi-
tional
supporters
of
the
Labour
Party.
*Formerly
Second
Permanent
Secretary,
U.K.
Treasury,
with
responsibility
for
the
planning
and
control
of
public
expenditure.
Later,
Permanent
Secretary,
Department
of
Trade.
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