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October 13, 2024 

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DISINTERMEDIATION: A general deterioration in the profitability of a bank because it pays high interest rates on short-term borrowing, but earns relatively low interest rates on long-term lending. This was a big, BIG problem for savings and loans (S&Ls) during the 1970s and ultimately caused many of them to fail in the 1980s. S&Ls were designed (by law) to make long-term (30-year) home loans to consumers, but to get the funds for these loans using standard savings accounts. When inflation and interest rates shot up in the 1970s, S&Ls found it necessary to pay savers higher rates to get the funds. But, they still had a bunch of home loans--with low interest rates--that were 15, 20, or 25 years from being repaid. For several years, S&Ls received 6 percent on many of their loans, but paid out something like 12 percent. This gradually eroded their profitability until many were forced to close their doors.

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PRIVATIZATION:

The process of converting or "selling off" government-owned assets, properties, or production activities to private ownership. Privatization is usually undertaken either to generate revenue for the government or as part of an overall laissez faire approach to the economy.
After several decades of increasing government control of productive activities, privatization came into vogue in the 1980s, along with business deregulation and an overall movement toward greater use of markets.

The logic behind privatization is two-fold:

As such, it seems natural to give the private sector a shot at running activities that the public sector does not run very well. The downside of privatization is that many government functions just cannot be performed efficiently by the private sector, which is why, after thousands of years of civilization, government functions continue to exist and persist.

Privatization actually reflects one end of a continuum of political views that are in a constant tug of war. At the other end is nationalization. As much as anything else, these two alternatives reflect the ongoing tug and pull of competing political views.

  • Liberals tend to favor paternalistic government allocation and ownership of resources. Nationalization is a better fitting pursuit for their philosophy.

  • Conservatives, in contrast, tend to favor market allocation and private ownership of resources. Privatization is their end of choice.
However, given the efficiency of competitive markets, the necessary functions of government, and the ever present fifth rule of imperfection, neither end is likely to perpetually dominate the other.

<= PRIVATE SECTORPROCESS INNOVATION =>


Recommended Citation:

PRIVATIZATION, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2024. [Accessed: October 13, 2024].


Check Out These Related Terms...

     | nationalization | paternalism | laissez faire | invisible hand |


Or For A Little Background...

     | capitalism | free enterprise | private property | conservative | liberal | ownership and control | fifth rule of imperfection | private sector | public sector |


And For Further Study...

     | political views | government functions | economic goals | four estates | economic systems |


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