Water Privatization – Getting Beyond the Slogans

With the public uprising last week in El Alto, which resulted in the Bolivian government canceling, once again, the water contract of a major foreign corporation, the issue of water privatization is once again in the news. There has been some, but not much, media attention outside of Bolivia about these events.

Even when there is media attention, limits of space and interest rarely allow coverage to get beyond the superficiality of competing slogans. “Privatization good!” “Privatization bad!” The issue, however, is far more complicated than that and deserves to be analyzed with more care and more substance.

For that reason I am grateful to the on-line business publication, Business News Americas, and one of its reporters, Randy Woods, for publishing a lengthy interview with me this past week on the issue of privatization. I hope our readers will take a look.

To be sure, for many on both sides of the issue, water privatization is an ideological battle. But behind that are important public policy questions about how to provide the poor of the world safe water, given the fact that the poor of the world can’t afford to pay the actual cost of doing that. So if you are interested in getting beyond the slogans to some substance on the issue.