This was a very interesting exploration of how the world has come to what it is now. Definitely apt for people who are just getting into these types of topics I found the privatisation of everything to be a very good introductory book that treats it's readers with respect and understanding.

This book covered an impressive and infuriating range of topics all directly linked together by one phenomenon: privtization.
More specifically, the seizure and exploitation of public works by private hands and the consequent spiral of wealth and power accumulation. It is a positive feedback loop with staggering human costs, and is literally killing us... and when it's not a literal matter of life or death, it is making our lives much worse.

I found this book to be a nearly perfect primer considering its length and the shear vastness of material that could be covered under this title. The authors tackle some of the most egregious and immediately dangerous instances of privatization, such as...

- The perversion of intellectual property to hold life saving drugs developed with tax dollars hostage behind exorbitant prices
- The crusades of bloated parasitic lowlifes, like the accuweather CEO Barry Myers' largely successful endeavors to cut the National Weather Service and its essential information off from the public while still reaping its tax-funded data for his own company
- The widespread fleecing of public lands, utilities, and infrastructure by corporations who take it for a fraction of its worth, squeeze all the money they can out of citizens for access to it, and then allow it to crumble after ensuring through contract that the government is unable (or extremely unlikely) to escape the sham.

While they went into more granular detail on individual topics and consistently backed their points up with salient figures, they also did a great job of laying out how all of these issues fit into the bigger picture and of tracing out how we arrived at this point.
Also note, I will throw names at the people responsible for these evils. I am not an academic and I do not care. I think they deserve all the perjoratives. However, the authors in this work are much more restrained that I am. They managed to communicate the urgency of the situation and make me grit my teeth half the time I was reading it not by using emotional language or repeating the wrongness of the situation ad nauseam (like a lot of books on social issues tend to do) but by laying out the facts and letting them evoke your rage for themselves. They also are very optimistic about our ability to reverse course, and I'm trying very hard to believe them.

The reader probably needs to go in with a basic understanding of how government is and can be structured at each level (municipal, state, federal) and of the fact that government contracting is rarely a straightforward deal, but more of a nebulous web of subcontractors and suppliers.
(I have seen this beast from the inside as an intern who might have been the entirety of a joint venture between a contractor and subcontractor in the office of a federal agency. Guess who got to do cybersecurity and other virtual trainings 3 times over?)

I'll be back to add on to this later, but in short: very important read. 5/5 stars. Read it and tell your friends about it. We need this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the authors for providing me an e-book ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Even though I fall on the political spectrum that this book targets, it's important to know going into it that it is unapologetically biased. Truthfully, I appreciated the confidence of opinion and the tone of humanity of the novel; however, others might find it off-putting depending on their political and personal beliefs. The information it presents is important. Perhaps because of tone, though, it might not reach the people who need to hear it most. I'm still on the fence as to whether it works in its favor or shoots the book in the foot, but it was very fascinating and well-researched. As a skeptic, though, it did leave me wondering if there was another side to the story (even if the villain is still the villain).

This book is a guide for those looking to have better understanding of the broad effects of privatization on public goods & health. Read to learn the history and tangible steps that can be taken to regain sight of the common good via the conduit of public values.

Wow! What a great, informative read. I can't wait 'til everyone gets to read this book.

Thanks very much to the good folks at NetGalley for a chance to read an advanced reader copy of this significant book.

Immensely readable! I couldn't put it down! This is the sort of book I'll be getting everyone I know for Christmas.

A well-crafted spitfire of a book that slices through the idea of privatization like a hot knife through butter. Anyone looking at the sorry state of our institutions and wonder why so many are struggling, need to read this book. Well-written and exhaustively researched.

A comprehensive and contemporary book to add to your non-fiction TBR.
While the concepts dealt with are complex, this book avoided the pitfalls of many political economy non-fictions by not talking down to its readers or being completely impenetrable. The key points are emphasised just enough to be impactful but not repetitive.
While the book is mainly about privatisation in the United States, privatisation is a trend that is occurring all around the world, and hence the book felt relevant internationally.
Thank you for the great and informative read, Netgally, Donald Cohen, and Allen Mikaelian!