Details how a few multinational companies have come to dominate US healthcare at the expense of patient and public money. The federal and state fines, failures and illegal practices of six healthcare companies are documented, including fines and failures in Canada. The anti-union activities of the companies are also examined together with British multinational firms…

Examines the evidence of secret government plans to privatise the UK coal industry, parts of which had already been privatised. Seven private coal companies operated half the opencast sites accounting for nearly three-quarters of site production. Researched during the 1984/85 coal strike, it shows how the privatisation of coal mining was on the political agenda…

Examines UK privatisation in the context of the sale of public assets in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East and how transnational companies are reorganising to exploit the internationalisation of privatisation.

The Welfare State: Privatisation, Deregulation and Commercialisation of Public Services: Alternative Strategies for the 1990s Dexter Whitfield, Pluto Press, London, 1992. Out of Print. Includes the need for public services, demands of a capitalist economy, the political economy of privatisation, deregulation and commercialisation, new forms of control, the need for new strategies, controls on capital…

An overview of the global sell-off of public assets and services, the growth of new markets with increased levels of commercialisation. Transnational companies dominate and exploit migrant labour.

The biggest sale in history will also incur the biggest costs and discounts to investors. Exposes the myth of the small investor and details the speculative gains made on asset sales to date.

The lack of a coherent labour movement strategy and the Labour Party’s acceptance of dual provision are discussed. Draws on the lessons from anti-privatisation campaigns and proposes a seven-point strategy. Identifies the various forms of marketization and privatisation and their impact on services users, jobs, democratic accountability and the public cost of competition. Concludes with…

Pluto Press, London, paperback, ISBN 0-86104-509-2 – Out of Print. Exposes the scale and scope of the Thatcher privatisation drive, the new right and multinational offensive, the effects of privatisation on workers, users and services and proposes a political strategy for public services and a seven-point action strategy. David Berry, New Statesman, 9 September 1983…