Alissa Kole Amico is the Managing Director of GOVERN. This post is based on a GOVERN memorandum by Ms. Amico.
Arguably the single most awaited economic event of 2019 was the public listing of the Saudi national oil company, Saudi Aramco, which swiftly became the largest listed company globally, overtaking Apple. Only half a year later, the privatisation of any state-owned company appears unthinkable. Indeed, the privatization mantra that has underpinned liberal economic thinking and policy guidance of multilateral institutions since the 1980s, has come to an abrupt, yet firm halt.
Over the last week, we have witnessed exactly the opposite tendency take hold all over the world and most notably in Europe—most hard-hit by the current pandemic—as governments in Spain, France, and the UK have rushed to announce nationalizations. Faced with a choice of lending to or investing in failing national champions, a number of governments have opted for the latter, nationalizing airlines, hospitals, automotive firms and other “crown jewels”.