[LowCountryJoe]

Thanks for sharing.

...(b) Should the core SOEs be privatized and, if so, how?...

We don't even privatize everything here in the United States so no everything is feasible, I guess I'd like to see a specific list of industries before that question can be answered. Then it would have to be determined who would get to own the industry if privatized. How do you even do something like that? Hold an auction and sell the state's assets to the highest bidder(s)?

[maui_hawaii]

What we do here and what they do there are two totally different things. If we did, the auto industry would be controlled by the govt, as would all, oil, gas, electric companies, the govt would have at least a minority partnership (49%) of Wal Mart, Kmart, Sams, etc. As well as Norman Shwartzkopf would be one rich dude and would have been the head of the military, plus the partner of Microsoft at the same time...We are not even talking real estate yet. Oh, and here Citigroup, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, and about 20 other major banks would all be state owned and controlled too...

What we have is nothing. Yet with regards to China people talk about the 'invisible hand'. Invisible my ass..

How do they sell them off? Auctions do happen. What they look for is sometimes foreign partners who are willing to buy said factory and include it in their operations...

They also look for some locals who often get loans (aka banking crisis) and buy what are deemed non critical companies and try to hence manage them to profitability.