Tag: Ownership
Don’t mix politics and the pursuit of wealth
Russia might have been better off by a more gradual transition to market economy, which would have given as much weight to the legitimacy of private property rights as to the speed of their establishment. The country's bumpy road to capitalism holds lessons for developing market economies, but also analogies to developed ones.
The music industry needs to change the record
The claim by the music business to maintain control of every subsequent exploitation of its product has no more moral basis than the claim of a think-tank to control every subsequent expression or development of its ideas. Media conglomerates need to work hard to justify their claims to such legal preferences.
When natural resources are a curse
It is in human, rather than natural resources, that the origins of material prosperity are to be found. John describes why natural resources may be a burden rather than a blessing for some developing countries.
The real culprits in Europe’s pensions crisis
The problem of the European pension gap cannot be tackled by the kind of financial engineering proposed by the European Financial Services Round Table. This is not the moment in history to argue that private pension funding is necessarily superior to state provision.
The high cost of ICI’s fall from grace
The fate of ICI demonstrates how the market disciplines unsuccessful choices of strategy; in the case of ICI it is almost unfortunate that it does so.
Copyright law has a duty to creativity
We are often told that the best way to protect artistic innovation and creativity is to extend copyright. But it is not usually the budding novelist or musician that pushes the argument.
Twenty Years of Privatisation
Twenty years after it all began, the meaning of privatisation is now clearer. Privatised businesses have fared better than nationalised ones but most have not thrived in the private sector. And the plc model does not work for monopoly services.
Rivalry keeps an industry vibrant
The proposed merger between Go and Easyjet has provoked minimal controversy. This belies the important questions it poses for the future of competition policy.
Stakeholding misconceived
Encouraging employee share ownership doesn't create a "stakeholder society". Instead, it can lead to disasters like Enron, where workers have too much riding on the success of one firm.
