In secret, governments are negotiating the end to all not-for profit public services. This binding and irreversible treaty will lay all government services open for international tender, and no doubt international labour, that is, foreign, lower paid nurses, teachers, builders, water technicians, police, posties, media, maintenance, childcare and transport workers. Public services are next in line for the WTO's corporate battering ram. Quality of service and democratic access has not necessarily improved.
Services offer rich pickings for canny corporations.
And of all public services, health, education and water are shaping up to be the most lucrative. Since multinationals pay little tax, these services are becoming increasingly hard for governments to provide. The USA might suggest a model for the dismantling of public services which GATS will unleash all over the world. In fact, much of the GATS policies and the World Trade Organisation policies are designed to increase USA mega corporation domination of world markets. Rick Scott, the president of Columbia, the world's largest for- profit hospital corporation, is clear that health care is a business, no different to any widget manufacturer.