The start of state ownership
 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../npower102.xml

Would these profits better used helping the poor or would they be better in the treasury coffers.

Re: The start of state ownership
 

easy ,help the poor.

Re: The start of state ownership
 

The answer is a no brainer the reality well thats totally different.

Re: The start of state ownership
 

Oddly enough, this is pretty much what I was discussing with a mate in the pub earlier - the basic issue being that high energy company profits aren't the result of some wondrous engineering effort, but rather a reflection of how successful the company is at buying cheap and selling dear.

The usual economic reaction to such obscene profits is that someone undercuts them and incentivises everyone to switch, but that isn't happening. The reason it isn't happening is the most interesting thing here.

Re: The start of state ownership
 

Sod the poor - It shouldnt be a case of who gets a share of the over charged profits iwe shouldbnt be over charged in the first place (which seems to be the facts now)

Re: The start of state ownership
 

I can think of a few company's that should be taken into state ownership at the moment. :LOL:

Re: The start of state ownership
 

Exactly! If the utilities are making excess profits then surely the best way to help the poor /curb the companies greed (if greed is the correct word) is to force them to drop their prices. Confiscating profits from them whilst not capping prices will simply allow the companies to claw back more money from all of us!
Another point is that confiscating money and then trying to give it back to the poor involves a middleman--the govt--another layer of waste and ineptitude before the money can get back to those who need it.
If the govt was truly concerned about the poor they would simply force the utilities to charge them less....but that way the govt wouldn't be able to get their hands on all that money!
..and lets not even get onto the subject of the govt stealing legally earned money on a whim!! :dozey:

Re: The start of state ownership
 

If they were really serious the easiest thing to do would be to order the utilities companys to issue a rebate to all customers of maybe a percentage of their last annual bill.

Re: The start of state ownership
 

Personally the ammount I pay seems quite reasonable anyway - yes its gone up but it doesnt break the bank

Re: The start of state ownership
 

we are either capitalists or not . Would this not be seen as a step towards communism? obviously I think the excessive profit should really be cut and bills made more reasonable however as a society we are programmed from birth to be capitalist and that is basically be greedy make make make

Re: The start of state ownership
 

Trouble is zing, a free market only works when companies aren't working in a cartel like fashion. this seems to be the case with either the gas/electricity or the petroleum companies. :(

Re: The start of state ownership
 

but with petroleum the majority of the costs is tax

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Yep so the unelected Ex Highway man "Brown" will not be bothered. This Government needs as much tax as it can get to pay for all those Bombs it used in Iraq.

Re: The start of state ownership
 

Actually, traditionally, the UK Economy has been a mix of both. The Government providing things we needed (energy, communications, transport) through nationalised industries, capitalism providing whatever they found profitable (most of the above, and everything else).

The problems have appeared because the government have sold off most of the nationalised industries to shareholders, and haven't placed adequate controls on the companies sold.

Re: The start of state ownership
 

It might be the smiggen of commie in me but i have always had the belief that a country should control it's own energy and water not private company's. We will never get a truly fair deal while there is a profit to be made and shareholders to keep happy.