by Cannydc » Sat Nov 16, 2019 4:14 pm
LordRaven wrote:Cannydc wrote:Raven...
Please excuse my ignorance on the ability to run businesses as zero profit/loss making organisations, pumping endless public funds in to keep them afloat and then declaring them huge successes.
It is an alien concept to me
Do you recall the huge numbers made redundant when those state run utilities were being 'slimmed down' prior to being flogged off?
To be added to the huge 4,000,000 unemployed, all on benefits - a 'price worth paying', the Tories said...
Half a billion a week, paid for by the taxpayer, and that was 35 years ago.
Short term pain, long term gain. And let's not forget the decades of running at a loss unable to compete internationally because Britain produced crap that was unfit to export.
Would you run Canny & Co pouring money into it annually just to keep it afloat for vanity reasons, and because all your workers knew you'd keep bailing them out and they'd always get their wages --or they'd go on strike (often) for more money on a whim -- so that it became a self defeating organisation too, because nobody wanted to buy what you were producing because other companies made cheaper, better, more efficient produce that people did want to buy?
Or would Mrs Canny slap you around the head and tell you to use some common sense and close it down before it bankrupted you?
One word answer required--"Close or Run?"
Long term gain???
"Almost three decades after water was sold-off, share ownership is now largely in the hands of a small group of international investors – many of them based in tax havens. Meanwhile, prices have increased by 40 per cent and over a quarter of the amount consumers pay on bills goes towards servicing debt interest and paying out dividends.
New investment has been financed by borrowing rather than by shareholders. When water was privatised, the Government generously took on the outstanding debts of the sector – all £4.9bn of them – leaving the new owners debt free. The private owners have taken advantage, ratcheting up a breathtaking £46bn of debt between them by 2016.
While racking up debt at taxpayers’ expense, the water firms have paid out billions to shareholders in dividends. Out of a combined total post-tax profit of £18.8bn over the last 10 years, all but £700m of it was paid out in dividends to shareholders. That’s more than £18bn flowing into the pockets of shareholders instead of being used to bring down bills and improve services.
The daylight robbery is also taking place in the energy sector. In 2016-17, National Grid made a £1.9bn profit on UK electricity and gas transmission. Around £660m in dividends were paid out on these operations, meaning a 12 per cent increase in hidden costs for consumers.
The promised benefits of market competition have never materialised: the "Big Six" energy companies have taken advantage of consumers, overcharging customers by £2bn in 2015. People don’t want to have to research options and shop around for a decent deal; they just want affordable and reliable energy."
Long term gain - please, you are hurting my ribs.
[quote="LordRaven"][quote="Cannydc"]Raven...
[quote]Please excuse my ignorance on the ability to run businesses as zero profit/loss making organisations, pumping endless public funds in to keep them afloat and then declaring them huge successes.
It is an alien concept to me[/quote]
Do you recall the huge numbers made redundant when those state run utilities were being 'slimmed down' prior to being flogged off?
To be added to the huge 4,000,000 unemployed, all on benefits - a 'price worth paying', the Tories said...
Half a billion a week, paid for by the taxpayer, and that was 35 years ago.[/quote]
Short term pain, long term gain. And let's not forget the decades of running at a loss unable to compete internationally because Britain produced crap that was unfit to export.
Would you run Canny & Co pouring money into it annually just to keep it afloat for vanity reasons, and because all your workers knew you'd keep bailing them out and they'd always get their wages --or they'd go on strike (often) for more money on a whim -- so that it became a self defeating organisation too, because nobody wanted to buy what you were producing because other companies made cheaper, better, more efficient produce that people did want to buy?
Or would Mrs Canny slap you around the head and tell you to use some common sense and close it down before it bankrupted you?
One word answer required--"Close or Run?"[/quote]
Long term gain???
"Almost three decades after water was sold-off, share ownership is now largely in the hands of a small group of international investors – many of them based in tax havens. Meanwhile, prices have increased by 40 per cent and over a quarter of the amount consumers pay on bills goes towards servicing debt interest and paying out dividends.
New investment has been financed by borrowing rather than by shareholders. When water was privatised, the Government generously took on the outstanding debts of the sector – all £4.9bn of them – leaving the new owners debt free. The private owners have taken advantage, ratcheting up a breathtaking £46bn of debt between them by 2016.
While racking up debt at taxpayers’ expense, the water firms have paid out billions to shareholders in dividends. Out of a combined total post-tax profit of £18.8bn over the last 10 years, all but £700m of it was paid out in dividends to shareholders. That’s more than £18bn flowing into the pockets of shareholders instead of being used to bring down bills and improve services.
The daylight robbery is also taking place in the energy sector. In 2016-17, National Grid made a £1.9bn profit on UK electricity and gas transmission. Around £660m in dividends were paid out on these operations, meaning a 12 per cent increase in hidden costs for consumers.
The promised benefits of market competition have never materialised: the "Big Six" energy companies have taken advantage of consumers, overcharging customers by £2bn in 2015. People don’t want to have to research options and shop around for a decent deal; they just want affordable and reliable energy."
Long term gain - please, you are hurting my ribs.
