A Global Fire Sale

Governments worldwide are selling off state-owned enterprises. The results should be salutary -- but the process can be painful.

It's the steal of the century! A one-time-only offer! Get a great deal on a Mexican phone company! Pick up a Philippine airline -- cheap! Buy a Pakistani ghee factory for a song! Hurry, hurry, hurry for unbeatable bargains!

Like shopkeepers clearing out superfluous inventory, governments around the world are dumping a vast array of state-owned assets onto the open market. This may be the biggest fire sale in history, with properties up for grabs everywhere: in Western Europe, Asia and, most dramatically, Eastern Europe and Latin America. For finance ministers from Brasilia to Budapest, the disposal of publicly owned enterprises...

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