Privatisations du patrimoine public et politiques économiques

To reduce the theory of privatization to that of denationalization is conceptually incorrect. Beyond a simple transfert of property privatization, in its broadest sense, may be considered as a multifaceted phenomen of assimilation or even of assistance (under the aegis of the State) of public ownership to private sector. This extended approach becomes indispensable if one attempts to achieve a bette understanding of the processes of privatization which have been developing in liberal economies since the last world war. It leads to the refutation of the theory that privatizations have been following a uniform and convergent path on the international stage. It also demontrates the existence of different periods, during which privatizations were affected by structural changes and in particular by economic policy trends.