What does Liberalization mean?
Imagine public services. People pay taxes to their government, who is then responsible for the basic needs of the community. Such are mail, electricity, water, public transport and the like. The basic cost of these services is kept low, and the service is rather good since there is no competition, thus the state has a complete monopoly over said service, ensuring that everybody has what they need and that these things are easily accessible. Now certain companies believe – backed by example by the EU – that monopolies are wrong, and that the basic service should be outsourced to other companies (preferably theirs) instead of the state. Thus, several companies enter the private market, kicking the government out of it’s monopoly, thus creating competition, worse service, higher prices and all around more poverty (since basic services cost more) and unemployment (reorganization of government companies). Thus, liberalization, or privatization, can be seen as the destroying of public servic
In general, liberalization (or liberalisation) refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. Liberalization of autocratic regimes may precede democratization (or not, as in the case of the Prague Spring). In the arena of social policy it may refer to a relaxation of laws restricting for example divorce, abortion, homosexuality or drugs. Most often, the term is used to refer to economic liberalization, especially trade liberalization or capital market liberalization. Although economic liberalization is often associated with privatization, the two can be quite separate processes. For example, the European Union has liberalized gas and electricity markets, instituting a system of competition; but some of the leading European energy companies (such as EDF and Vattenfall) remain partially or completely in government ownership. Liberalized and privatized public services may be dominated by just a few big companies particularly in s
