Guest 688- Registered: 16 Jul 2009
- Posts: 268
#1
I find it fascinating how we have continuously failed to understand Mrs T.She was not a conservative,though she led the Conservative party,she was not a Tory even though she payed lip service to tory ethics.She was,in fact,a fully paid up supporter of Neoliberalism,straight out of the Chicago school of economics.There is not a Western leader today who is not a member of this particular club and this fact proves that any differences between the main stream political parties are but illusion.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#2
sorry john we don't do intellectual here.
Guest 688- Registered: 16 Jul 2009
- Posts: 268
#3
At least I got one reply Howard
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#4
As with, A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle, I'm sure something is being said. Without worrying too much about what Chicago School signifies, I do accept that Party-Politics has had less and less to do with actual Voter Choice over the past thirty years or so.
Nothing in nature follows the same path for long though. What comes next, is the question for today.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 732- Registered: 8 Nov 2011
- Posts: 128
#5
Well said Mr Heron
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#6
She also said, Every prime minister should have a Willy.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
#7
Actually John I disagree.
In economics she was a 19th century Liberal and her economic guru was Hayek of the Austrian school. The Chicago school itself grew out of the ideas of Hayek (and these had roots in Adam Smith) while Friedman translated the Hayek theories into practical economics to meet political needs. The problem with Hayek is that he did not allow for the conceit of politicians and their need to have some kind of lever of economic power. Economics is only one strand of this complex lady and it is not enough to define her only by that.
Her economic 'bible' was The Road to Serfdom' by Hayek and she often quoted passages from that book. Friedman's 'Free to Choose' was also highly influential with her you are correct in that. I keep well thumbed copies of both books in my office.
I remember back in the mid-70's when I got really interested in economics, attended lectures and read a mass of economic books learning how in the post war period it was Hayek who informed the economic direction of West Germany when they rebuilt their economy to become the strongest in Europe. In the UK it was Keynes who influenced the direction of the economy and, in contrast, after initial successes it was not maintained and gradually at first and then accelerating, the UK economy fell into steady relative decline. Consequently the comfortable consensus we had around Keynseyan economics had led us to a critical point by the end of the 70's. The problem with Keynes is that he gave politicians excuses to spend money but they tended to ignore the bits that did not suit them like reducing deficits in the growth phase and paying it back. Brown having been the most recent example of that. Mrs T, Sir Keith Joseph and others looked at the success of the West German economy and instead of accepting continued decline looked for solutions.
Mrs T was not a Tory in the sense that the old grandees were and it is true that in a sense she was not a Conservative either, She was a true revolutionary but she did hold true to many fundamental values of the Conservative Party. Patriotism, family, financial prudence, self-reliance, independence, hard work, personal responsibility are all basic Conservative values about which she felt strongly and these are what defined her as a Conservative in the true sense.
The point about Mrs T was that she extended the opportunities to benefit from those Conservative values to everyone. Right to Buy, share ownership and so on are all part of that philosophy and were denied to millions until she freed them.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#8
# 6..... spherical objects...?
Guest 756- Registered: 6 Jun 2012
- Posts: 727
#9
Reg despite my dislike of her policies, she had more "spheres" than her cabinet!
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#10
....but not a Willy..................
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#11
She was referring to her deputy Mr Whitelaw.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#12
Lighten up Peter..............get out in the sunshine....if Eythone is cloudy.....cross the border in to sunny
Shepherdswell......
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#13
i thought everyone would have remembered that quote, caused many hearty guffaws at the time.