Deregulation: problems, warnings and a continuing case for regulation

Not all of the arguments against privatisation and deregulation in the transport sector stem from staunch defenders of the status quo making dire predictions in apocalyptic language, as John Hibbs seems to suggest in Chapter 10. It is true that those espousing New Right concepts have tended to claim both the ‘moral’ and the ‘radical’ high ground over the last decade, thereby casting anyone who disagrees as conservative, inflexible and anachronistic. It seems equally valid to suggest that the language and politics of economic efficiency have assumed greater legitimization over this period, challenging wider ranging notions of cost and benefit and replacing them with rather narrower economic concepts. Acceptance of these changes can make any critic of New Right policies appear rather like a dinosaur enjoying a wilderness experience! Before examining the evidence of the effects of privatisation and deregulation that has been presented in this book, however, we think it opportune to question some of the broader-brush assumptions made by supporters of these measures.