Do any of Mr. Wolf’s arguments surprise? Saint Maggie makes the obligatory appearance! Or his carefully chosen sources as demonstrative of the success of the profit run concerns that serve the public? Or the examples of the Soviets and China, as an amuse-bouche of Old Cold War hysteria!  In the watershed of the collapse of Neo-Liberalism, its successor Austerity and the present economic doldrums : celebrate its ‘gig-economy’ and a poverty rate in Britain: the headline and a brief quote from this BBC news story adds ‘depth’ to Mr. Wolf’s Capitalist Apologetics  :

‘Third of UK population ‘fell below the poverty line’

Almost a third of the UK population fell below the official poverty line at some point between 2010 and 2013, figures show.

Around 19.3 million people – 33% – were in poverty at least once, compared with 25% of people across the EU, the Office for National Statistics found.

But only 7.8% were defined as being in “persistent income poverty” in 2013 – less than half the 15.9% EU average.

Pensioners and single parent families were found to struggle the most.

The ONS records someone as being in poverty if they live in a household with disposable income below 60% of the national average, before housing costs.

Persistent poverty is defined as being in poverty in the current year and at least two of the three preceding years.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32812601

It is not hard to see the totemic significance of nationalisation to the left. But if its aim is to improve the prosperity of ordinary people, Labour should, instead, seek to reform the structure and purposes of regulation. It should also reform government policy: for example, replacing climate-related regulations with a carbon tax. Forget nationalisation: it is a dead end.

Headline: Britain’s railways need careful expansion, not nationalisation

Sub-headline: The system is not perfect, but nor is it in the crisis some would have us believe

Britain’s transport system faces many challenges. Its railways are not one of them. A sensible discussion of how to move people and freight would start with our lack of road capacity, turn to finance and the environment and conclude with the radical possibilities of technology.

In this conversation, rail would be marginal. Most people never use trains. Those who do, making just one in 10 of all journeys, benefit from a system that is in a better condition than ever, as the stunning steel and brick palace which has opened in place of the cramped old London Bridge station suggests. In May, the network will get its biggest timetable shake-up in decades, thanks to new routes and electrification in places such as Manchester and Scotland. Train travel is mostly quick, safe and reliable, which is why traffic has increased by 135 per cent since privatisation and 83 per cent of passengers are satisfied with their journeys.

https://www.ft.com/content/dd5281a8-f13e-11e7-bb7d-c3edfe974e9f