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Consider the following extract and use it to answer the questions that follow. The problem with privatising Eskom: Profit does not equate to national good
Consider the following extract and use it to answer the questions that follow. The problem with privatising Eskom: Profit does not equate to national good Sometime in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a seismic shift in Europe's approach to its future energy policy direction. It was against this backdrop that the bloc crafted an energy policy framework for the deregulation of its power sector. Europe had to factor in member states' national sensibilities and idiosyncrasies and balance these against the imperative to introduce more competition in its energy market. The thinking at the time was that most regional economic powerhouses in the European Union (EU) were fiscally constrained by state- owned power utilities. Outright privatisation was the natural outcome of liberalisation and deregulation in some member states, while others adopted mixed models. There were, of course, outlier member states which opted out of the entire thing and stuck with the course of state-owned power monopolies, with the backing of powerful lobbying muscle from unions. The power reform initiative was driven by the European Commission, which commissioned a series of studies in its aftermath under the project name "Understanding Privatisation Policies: Political Economy and Welfare Effects". The project was intended to understand policy outcomes flowing from the new energy framework by drawing from the experiences of EU member states. One of the papers in the series is titled "Privatisations in Europe's Liberalised Electricity Markets: the cases of the UK, Sweden, Germany and France". Unsurprisingly, the UK led the pack by aggressively and relentlessly breaking the back of its power utility monopolies and deregulating its energy sector. In fact, the UK was so successful at doing this that the EU held it as an example of how the process could be carried out. But that success ought not to be conflated with efficacy and optimal outcomes for consumers. Germany went the mixed model route, while France stuck to its guns and held on to its state-owned power monopoly approach. France's thinking was underpinned by its belief that a state-owned power monopoly was crucial in ensuring the country attained its macroeconomic objectives. In other words, France was concerned that liberalising and deregulating its power sector would have unintended consequences for the country's economic growth prospects. With the aid of a diagram, provide a discussion that supports the stance taken by the French authorities and support the case by providing remedies to any possible social welfare losses that may occur
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