The Business of Government in Business

Proponents of capitalism and other similar models have rightly countered the argument that the government of any country should not intervene in the business environment. The principle is to leave the economy to run driven by the forces of demand and supply. While this concept is not particularly wrong, recent happenings across the globe have shown how faulty "capitalism" can be as an economic system. Needless to say that most of the proponents of capitalism actually do not practice the system as preached.

Government-owned companies, otherwise known as GOCs, contribute immensely to the global economy across industries, with the likes of Aramco undoubtedly setting the pace in oil and gas. A report by the International Monetary Fund put the value of GOCs' assets globally at $45 trillion as of 2020, the equivalent of half the global GDP. Some of the biggest GOCs include Freddie Mac Company, and Fannie Mae Company in the United States, Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia and Eskom Holdings SOC ltd in South Africa. So did you notice the big names in the biggest "capitalist" in the world? Tell me more about what I dont know. It might also shock to know that a majority of gas and power supply in France is done by a state-owned companies, EDF and Engie. Therefore, it is not surprising that while the rest of Europe are battling the surge in the cost of power, the French government has ensured that her people do not have to groan as much by deliberating maintaining the price of gas and power within considerable limit, a concept some economists call "subsidy."

It is evident that while international economic bodies will continue to propagate capitalism and the need for government to hands off the business environment, their focus should be on other things like how nations can make their GOCs more efficient. Capitalism is capitalism and just like I was thought during early days in Uni, there is no pure capitalism system anywhere in the world. So before you come out to start preaching about the removal of subsidy from oil, education, and other basics that the citizens should enjoy, ask how the likes of Saudi Aramco and Fannie Mae operate and run efficiently. 

Long and short of the story, government has business in business. But what do I even know sef.

#AdeyinkaWrites #GodblessNigeria