Please read this short article for context:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110326/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake
Outsourcing electrical generation to private industry is as successful as outsourcing water, sewage and road construction. Privatization of public infrastructure monopolies diverts money that could be spent on safety to private profit.
Why do you suppose the IMF demands infrastructure privatization in return for government bailouts?
Imagine your government charged a modest profit on the services currently outsourced to private parties. Would taxes be as high? Would service suffer, or would the agencies involved be more accountable? I think public utilities should be owned and operated by the public. There should be no Tokyo Electric Power Co. to criticize.
Our money is outsourced also. Private banking demands interest that drives costs so high we can pay for two or three nuclear reactors with what we spend on one. Money is of great public utility -- ask anyone who lacks it. Money is the grease that keeps the wheels of commerce turning.
Interest-free money available through governmental loans would put Wall Street and the banks out of the lending business. I'm sure there are other businesses they can pervert.
As it is, perhaps Tokyo Electric Power Co. will go bankrupt but the people owning and operating the company will have limited liability. When PG&E Company went bankrupt in California as a result of Enron energy price manipulation, PG&E Corporation (the holding company for PG&E Co.) went unscathed. (http://www.pgecorp.com/investors/)
With the uprisings and wars in the Middle East, nuclear contamination in Japan and world-wide financial Armageddon, isn't it time we think about preserving civilization before profits? Warren Buffet has already licked his chops perusing Japanese investment opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government "admonishes" a private company for their own failure to properly administer the public welfare.
