3 ms·
Not saying this is what’s happening here, but this is a typical way in which corrupt government/politicians make bank They sell hugely valuable public assets t
by nico 3y ago
Not saying this is what’s happening here, but this is a typical way in which corrupt government/politicians make bank
They sell hugely valuable public assets to some private entity, which then sells it back (or lease or rent) to the government over the years, at a huge premium
There are usually some kickbacks, and/or indirect ownership through partners/shell companies involved
- MagicMoonlight 3y agoYeah there's literally no reason to ever sell something like this. It's like selling all of the missiles. Oh now we need missiles, guess we'll need to buy them from the new private missile reserve. They've done this with a lot of things in the UK and now we have crumbling buildings and billionaire politicians.
- cvoss 3y agoThe current auction is part of a sale that has been in the works since 1996. If something untoward is happening, the public eye has had two and a half decades to spot it and correct it. And the eye has been on it; indeed, the mechanics of the sale were revisited and improved ten years ago. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_Privatization_Act_of_1996 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_Privatization_Act_of_...
- nico 3y agoThat’s great, glad to know there’s been plenty of scrutiny over this At the same time, we’ve had regulatory capture in a bunch of industries for decades and it seems there isn’t much the public can really do about it The public being able to see what’s going on, for months/years/decades doesn't necessarily mean they are ok with it, it might just mean they are powerless
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]