Nationalization: So the wheel's come full circle

British Steel may get nationalized. Decisions in the political economy space must sometimes be made on merits and context. Universal truths said to hold at all times are suspect at best

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AImost 46 years after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher privatized British Petroleum and embarked on a spate of privatizations, including British Airways, British Telecom and British Steel, during the 1980s and 1990s, the UK Parliament set the clock back. In an emergency session late last week, it passed a law allowing the government to take control of British Steel's plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. In a scene unimaginable in 1980s Britain, when privatizing state-run enterprises was seen as a push for market-driven efficiency, lawmakers were called back from their Easter break to enable a state takeover of the once Tata-owned and now Chinese-owned factory. This was a last-ditch effort to save local steelmaking and jobs. In the words of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, it was done "in the national interest." Just as privatization once was.