OK, the notion that Chinese lenders (State lenders? Is there any other in China?) have equity rights in a critical utility - Thames Water - is madness. It sounds like something that could happen here, but the US has CFIUS - the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US - that looks at critical infrastructure investments and can bar them under US federal law. We are certainly capable of screwing up utilities ourselves - Flint, MI and Montgomery (?) AL come to mind, but at least when fixed we don't need to pay China lenders! {we pay enough in T-Bill interest to them, but that is another issue.
From what I understand, the US has been better at realizing the dangers of foreign powers owning/being able to influence critical infrastructure.
UAE is currently trying to take over the Daily Telegraph -- something which could not happen in the US. ( I forget how Murdoch got around the prohibition on foreign ownership thing in the US) Parliament have been debating it.
Northumbria Water is controlled by a Hong Kong businessman, before that the French. So it is not just Thames who has the foreign ownership problem.
And yes, the ability to mess up utilities domestically should not be discounted. Some are saying to re-nationalize -- only problem is that water generally is v stable and cash rich (once the infrastructure is in place). And there can't be 'competition' with water as the pipes etc. I don't trust governments in general to do the necessary investments to keep the solid infrastructure.
A strong regulator is the best option but again there can be problems when you get the cross traffic between those regulated and the regulator.
Murdoch? The US has an open investment policy. No bar to foreign ownership save as to national security. That is what CFIUS evaluates. I don’t think ownership of, WSJ for example would trigger concerns. Heck, China has been buying real estate around sensitive military installations. Not sure how that escaped review.
TY, as always Michelle, for the wonderful line-up of articles. I wish I could say I was shocked.
Scotland is truly a mess. And I'm very sorry to "hear" about the result of Puberty Blockers.
And schools? Of course, it's down to the teachers and their unions. Of course schools play a large part in the increase in gender confusion. Perhaps they can correct their policies. I agree that it's a national scandal.
Sorry to hear about the Thames. That was interesting about the King.
TY again, and here's to wishing You best o' luck on Your writing. That's a great cover. Congrats.
The PB result was shocking but unsurprising. Something which prevents the overdevelopment probably will retard the normal development.
News just in -- Sex Matters has officially become a registered charity. Rather than supporting a belief which is not worthy in a democratic society, it turns out that Sex Matters has demonstrable public benefit.
Once Cass finally reports, hopefully the school thing can get sorted out v quickly.
OK, the notion that Chinese lenders (State lenders? Is there any other in China?) have equity rights in a critical utility - Thames Water - is madness. It sounds like something that could happen here, but the US has CFIUS - the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US - that looks at critical infrastructure investments and can bar them under US federal law. We are certainly capable of screwing up utilities ourselves - Flint, MI and Montgomery (?) AL come to mind, but at least when fixed we don't need to pay China lenders! {we pay enough in T-Bill interest to them, but that is another issue.
From what I understand, the US has been better at realizing the dangers of foreign powers owning/being able to influence critical infrastructure.
UAE is currently trying to take over the Daily Telegraph -- something which could not happen in the US. ( I forget how Murdoch got around the prohibition on foreign ownership thing in the US) Parliament have been debating it.
Northumbria Water is controlled by a Hong Kong businessman, before that the French. So it is not just Thames who has the foreign ownership problem.
And yes, the ability to mess up utilities domestically should not be discounted. Some are saying to re-nationalize -- only problem is that water generally is v stable and cash rich (once the infrastructure is in place). And there can't be 'competition' with water as the pipes etc. I don't trust governments in general to do the necessary investments to keep the solid infrastructure.
A strong regulator is the best option but again there can be problems when you get the cross traffic between those regulated and the regulator.
Murdoch? The US has an open investment policy. No bar to foreign ownership save as to national security. That is what CFIUS evaluates. I don’t think ownership of, WSJ for example would trigger concerns. Heck, China has been buying real estate around sensitive military installations. Not sure how that escaped review.
Hello Northumberland!
TY, as always Michelle, for the wonderful line-up of articles. I wish I could say I was shocked.
Scotland is truly a mess. And I'm very sorry to "hear" about the result of Puberty Blockers.
And schools? Of course, it's down to the teachers and their unions. Of course schools play a large part in the increase in gender confusion. Perhaps they can correct their policies. I agree that it's a national scandal.
Sorry to hear about the Thames. That was interesting about the King.
TY again, and here's to wishing You best o' luck on Your writing. That's a great cover. Congrats.
As always lovely to hear from you.
The PB result was shocking but unsurprising. Something which prevents the overdevelopment probably will retard the normal development.
News just in -- Sex Matters has officially become a registered charity. Rather than supporting a belief which is not worthy in a democratic society, it turns out that Sex Matters has demonstrable public benefit.
Once Cass finally reports, hopefully the school thing can get sorted out v quickly.
TY for Your reply, Michelle. That's good news about Sex Matters.