This is going to be an interesting story to follow. Cristina Fernández' government is proposing to renationalize the Argintinian airlines Aerolíneas Argentinas y Austral: Jaime dice que el Estado no quiere "hacerse cargo de ninguna deuda" de Aerolíneas Clarín 09.08.2008.
As one might easily imagine, there are issues. A big one is the roughly $890 million of debt the two airlines carry. Secretary of Transportation Ricardo Jaime is also saying that they want to preserve the jobs of current airline employees.
Aerolíneas Argentinas is currently owned 94% by the Spanish company Marsans. El Gobierno argentino cree que no debería "pagar nada por Aerolíneas" El País 08.07.2008; Marsans acuerda la venta de Aerolíneas al Estado argentino por Alejandro Rebossio El País 18.07.2008. Despite the legendary magic of the free market, Aerolíneas Argentinas has been suffering serious service problems since it was privatized.
As a general matter, I don't see that it's written in stone in some immutable economic tablet that airlines always and everywhere perform better as private companies. (Have you had a United flight lately?) Although hardcore "libertarians "have other ideas, it's not generally considered desirable to have highways, city streets, subways, or urban bus lines owned by private companies on a purely profit-making basis. On the contrary, they are considered a vital part of the basic economic infrastructure. Even with the airlines, major airports and security operations in the United States are government-owned, although much of the funding comes from airline revenue.
Tags: argentina, cristina fernández
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