I have a memory, that is probably false, of a 1980s Private Eye
cover, with a picture of Cecil Parkinson, a reviled Thatcherite. It was
during the aggressive wave of privatizations in the UK. A speech bubble
has him saying "Higher prices and worse service mean better value for
money for everyone".
A couple of Oxford academics have just written a book about UK
government reforms from the 1980's until now: "A Government That Worked
Better and Cost Less? Evaluating Three Decades of Reform and Change in
UK Central Government" by Christopher Hood and Ruth Dixon. They conclude
that “... contrary to the rhetoric, successive reforms and
reorganisations in the UK over the thirty years up to 2010 failed to
drive down government running costs, while complaints and litigation
increased sharply.”. I think that might mean something like "higher
prices and worse service".
https://www.psa.ac.uk/oxford-university-academics-awarded-book-prize-westminster-awards
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