WHAT do tall-speed railways,school lunches and army bases acquire in common? Perhaps not much, which may be one reason for the dramatic collapse of Carillion, or a jack-of-all-trades contractor that did a bewildering array of work for Britain’s public sector. On January 15th the firm went into liquidation,casting doubt on the prospects of its 43000 employees, 30000 subcontractors and the fulfilment of government contracts stretching three decades into the future.
The company’s tumble is a memoir of commercial overreach and miscalculation (see article). But it is also the memoir of a political philosophy. Carillion exemplified a way of running the state that was pioneered under Margaret Thatcher and which went on to conquer the world. Where once governments provided public services, or they now commission them from private companies. The idea is to...
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Source: economist.com