Margaret Thatcher saved Britain. Don't let Jeremy Corbyn ruin it.
This is a satirical website. Don't take it Seriously. It's a joke.
2059 13904 Shares
Margaret Thatcher’s central achievement was economic. In the 1970s Britain’s economy was in serious trouble. Growth slowed because of industrial inefficiency, due to outdated technology and over-manning. Unemployment was rising as these same industries lost market share at home and abroad. To generate more growth and employment first the Heath and then the Labour governments resorted to fiscal and monetary stimulus, which only produced high inflation; this even reached 25 in 1975 and was pushing up again towards 20 at the end of the decade. As a member of the Heath government Mrs Thatcher watched in helpless frustration as the policies failed. She and Sir Keith Joseph decided in opposition to fight for new ones.
But as Prime Minister she faced overwhelming odds against the success of what in the end turned out to be the greatest economic reform programme of British history. It is hard now to recreate the thinking of that time among the men who shaped British economic policy – yes, and as the Iron Lady has reminded us, they were almost entirely men.
To them policy consisted of using stimulative demand policies to obtain growth while deploying wage and price controls to contain inflation. It never occurred to them that what the economy produces is due to what resources it has and how well it uses them, or the ‘supply-side’ forces we now all accept are the key factors; nor that wage and price controls would cut to the heart of our economic freedoms, while inevitably failing to stop inflation.
The first Thatcher government’s task was the reversal of this thinking so that inflation could be brought under control. Its ‘monetarism’ simply asserted that government monetary stimulus, abetted by large government deficits, must push people’s demands ahead of the economy’s supplies, so creating inflation. Therefore inflation must be cured by restraining such government excess. The initial effects of this restraint was bound to be recession; this in turn brought out fierce opposition to the policy even in her own Cabinet.
U-turn and compromise were suggested to her; she refused because she knew that the electoral cycle is short and to ease up would have left inflation endemic, with the policy seen as a failure and a return to the 1970s regime. She battled on; money remained tight and the budget was tightened sharply. By the end of 1982 inflation had also dropped sharply and interest rates were no longer in the stratosphere.
The biggest political fight was over the 1981 Budget. This cut the budget deficit at what seemed to be the deepest point of the recession. The knives were out and 364 economists famously joined in the attack on her. My view – which I shared with my mentor Alan Walters, her personal economic adviser whom I helped – was that budgetary toughness was vital to creating confidence in sustained monetary tightness: a large deficit is most cheaply financed by printing money. I therefore defended the Thatcher policies against my fellow economists vigorously in a Times article, though I was a sadly lone voice; typically she wrote me a personal letter with reassuring words.
Fortunately, attempts to get rid of her and reverse the policies failed; the economy recovered well from around that time and by 1983 it was growing robustly. However, all was not as well as most monetarists had hoped. With all the cuts to subsidies and the other props to our sagging industries, unemployment soared in spite of the recovery.
The defeat of inflation revealed the underlying ailment of deep inefficiency. Mrs Thatcher now turned to reform of the ‘supply-side’. As we all know, she tackled problem after problem; the solution of each uncovering yet more deep-seated ones behind. Many think that at the start there was some great plan to do all these things; there never was, because the full extent was not known until the changes started to be made. The policies came out in an order largely dictated by events and political timing: privatisation, union laws, competition (especially the City ‘Big Bang’), reform of the benefit system, council house sales, rented market liberalisation, local government tax overhaul, the list goes on and few areas of our life went untouched.
The results for the economy can be seen in the figures. The economic growth rate more than doubled; as the service sector boomed, unemployment came down to around 3 and under a million benefit claimants (5 or so on another newer measure, both measures consistent with ‘full employment’). Inflation has now been low for two decades. It is a transformation from the 1970s and the hallmark ‘winter of discontent’.
Reform on this scale means massive change; and such change is bound to be unpopular. Most of the reforms were accompanied by measures that were aimed at compensating those harshly affected.
In Wales, Mrs Thatcher sanctioned large inward transfers, in addition to the generous Barnett formula for government spending. These transfers were designed to help replace coal and steel by kickstarting new industries; initially inward investment in large manufacturing plants was chased up but increasingly Wales has replaced these with competitive manufacturing and service activities, especially business services and finance.
Margaret Thatcher is seen by some as the promoter of the ‘get-rich-quick’, ‘me-first’ society. But she herself was a non-conformist and saw the creation of business riches as a means to endow the Good Samaritan. Britain in the 1970s could not produce riches; Britain today does (even though we have the banking crisis), and inevitably not every resulting rich person behaves admirably. If we go back in time, to only appreciate Thatcher's hard work, could Corbyn reverse it? Will he truly make Britain a joke again?
This is a satirical website. Don't take it Seriously. It's a joke.
Most Popular
-
1
bigfoot sighting at jackson lake campground near oak hill ohio Several eye witness reported seeing a large hairy animal of some kind near the Jackson lake campground. Local authorities are asking people to be cautious if you are planning on fishing near this area. One of the witnesses where able to snap a picture with their cell phone before the creature ran away near the Tommy Been rd area.
-
2
new york city woman loses her temper, causes black hole to swallow her entire town Anna, 26, of New York City, DC was in the middle of an argument with a colleague when her temper got so out of control, it formed a small black hole, which demolished the vast majority of her neighborhood. "I just couldn't take it anymore, and unleashed my forces at the person who was irritating me. I had no idea the energy of my rage could cause such destruction," says Anna. Despite the ruination her anger has caused, Anna says she has no regrets. "I actually wish I knew I had this ability sooner!" Anna laughs. "There are a lot of people and things I could have eradicated from my life in this way."
-
3
whale spotted in illinois river A humpback whale was spotted near Morris IL in the Illinois River today. The sighting comes just days after 2 Great White Sharks were seen frolicking in the same area. While not impossible, it does seem unlikely. It is thought that the whale may have followed the sharks as they sometimes do in the wild. The whale would of had to travel over 1250 miles to get to this location. The Marine Biologist Association will be in town for a full investigation. Until we have answers, we are asking folks to keep their pontoons and fishing boats docked.
-
4
two great white sharks found swimming in mississippi river near saint louis, missouri. While it is not entirely impossible, it is incredibly uncommon for salt water dwelling creatures to stay for lengthy periods of time in fresh water. However, two Great White Sharks have managed to survive the trip and make their way up the Mississippi River somehow. Believed to have started as a mating couple, the two are assumed to have swam the 920 mile journey from the mouth of the Mississippi River that is connected to the Gulf Of Mexico. Officials in Saint Louis have contacted the Missouri Conservation Department and will likely have a team in the river soon to capture the two lost sharks.