> So I see a lot of articles like this one
> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3c301096-d37b-11dd-989e-000077b07658.html
>
> LBOer out with counterpoints? Or are "state run enterprises" just
> a form of "State Capitalism" and not anything like a 'socialist' (or
> community based, whatever you want to call it) run enterprise would be
> like?
Bit late getting to this - the state is a zone of contradiction, so state enterprises aren't necessarily progressive or regressive. You have to look at the structure of the state, whose interests it serves, and whose it doesn't.
That said, (1) state-run enterprises can be as efficient and innovative as private ones, and (2) they are a key ingredient of any developmental state. This is important, considering 80% of humanity lives in semiperipheries or true peripheries, places which badly need developmental states.
I have an appendix of state-owned businesses in East Asia at the end of this webpage: http://www.efn.org/~dredmond/keiretsu.html Very old data, I'm afraid, haven't had time to update, but it gives a sense of the potential scale and scope of state-linked biz.
-- DRR