La private finance initiative nel Regno Unito: una lettura critica

La private finance initiative nel Regno Unito: una lettura critica (di Malcom Sawyer) - ABSTRACT: The paper begins by outlining some of the issues connected with the ?Private Finance Initiative? (PFI) in the UK. It considers the current scale of PFI expenditure in terms of its impact on investment, the implications for the future course of public expenditure and the extent to which PFI expenditure has reduced the measured size of the public debt. The relative cost of finance of PFI as compared with the alternative of direct government borrowing to finance investment is discussed. The way in which the choice of a Public sector comparator (PSC) is decisions on PFI project proposal is assessed with particular reference to the impact of the choice of the discount rate. The claim that the PFI provides additional investment for the public sector is critically examined and largely rejected. The argument that the costs of construction and of operation are lower under PFI than under conventional schemes is also critically examined. It is argued here that the claim that the use of PFI is a way of transferring risk from the public sector to the private sector cannot be sustained.