1997-2007 Labour government Flashcards
In the 10 years Labour were in power how much did GDP grow by?
20% in real terms
How much did the 20% rise in GDP equate too?
Everyone in January 2010 would have had £3,840 more than they had in May 1997.
What was Annual GDP growth per capita?
1.6%
What was the annual GDP growth per capita between 1948-1998?
2.2%
average Unemployment between 1992-1997?
9%
average Unemployment between 1997-2007?
5.5%
How much did average unemployment fall by between 1997 and 2007?
3.5%
What was different from previous Labour governments?
Corporation tax was very low. It was the second lowest among the G7 near the end of Labours run in power.
How did Labour continue new right economic policies?
-Profits for companies increased massively along with investment into the future with modern technology.
-Guaranteed returns for the companies owning water, nuclear and train companies.
-Soft-pedaled on competition inquiries in defence, communications and energy.
What major part of the economy did Labour leave behind?
Manufacturing industries
What happened due to a lack of government confidence in the manufacturing industries?
People took early retirement and sold out to foreign companies rather than buy new machinery and invest into the future and compete with the new global international market.
Why did Labour have so little confidence in the manufacturing industries?
The government believed manufacturing was all over as a result of globalisation.
When Labour came into power how much did tax amount to of total GDP?
35%
What was the highest amount of Tax GDP amount under labour?
36%
What was the trouble with the low tax economic plan?
Low tax economic plan but it’s hard to sustain good public services. You simply can’t have low levels of tax with good public services, the problem was labour were fattening the beast of the public services by borrowing money whilst this happened the appetite of services and benefits exceeded the money available for it.
How did Labour try and pay for more public services?
-increase in privatisation
-Contracting
-PFI schemes
-Borrowing
-Stealth taxes
What is a stealth tax?
indirect taxation such as VAT.
Successes of the Labour government economic policies?
-Increased GDP
-Rising middle class
-Rising house prices
-People had more money
Failures of labour governments economic policies?
-Heavy borrowing
-House price bubble
-Privatisation [wasn’t ideologically Labour]
-Unregulated financial services led to worsening of the 2008 financial crash.
Evaluation of Labour’s economic policies?
Whilst public services did undoubtedly improve and more money was in the pocket of the ordinary person it was Clear that the services and growth could not be a real long term possibility mainly due to the demand of the public for higher public services but lower taxes.
Did labour leave the NHS in better shape?
Yes
how much did spending increase by per year from 2000 onwards?
7%