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In the US, “public” can be short for a private business with publicly listed shares on a stock exchange anyone can buy, or public can mean an organization owned
by lotsofpulp 2mo ago
In the US, “public” can be short for a private business with publicly listed shares on a stock exchange anyone can buy, or public can mean an organization owned and operated by the government.
- klausa 2mo agoPerhaps the fact that we’re having this discussion on HN shows the kind of media I’m likely to consume, but I’ve never seen it used in the latter sense. TIL, I guess!
- overfeed 2mo ago> public can mean an organization owned and operated by the government. Would you consider In-Q-Tel - wholly owned by the CIA - to be a public venture* through ownership by a government agency, or a private one, because the public has no opportunity of ownership or control? I'm convinced it's the latter. * Let's ignore it's non-profit status. Any CIA shell-/front-company is an even better example
- WhyNotHugo 2mo agoThe first of those is a "publicly traded company", which Americans often call "public", but is entirely different to an actual public company.