the effect of thatchers economic policies Flashcards
what core principles were thatchers economic policies based upon
by the mid 1980s it was clear that thatchers economic policies were based upon a series of core principles which included;
privatisation & deregulation, supply side economics, home & share ownership, tackling inflation
furthermore it became clear that taking control of inflation became priority rather than the pursuit of full employment.
what did the policy of privatisation aim to do
privatisation aimed to cut government expenditure reinvigorate the economy and incentivise workers. the policy became a centrepiece of her government and between 1983-97 the government privatised BT british gas, aerospace and privatised industries such as steel and electricity that had been nationalised by attlees gov
objectives of thatchers economic policies
make privatised industry more efficient
increase labour productivity
increase share ownership with the intro of popular capitalism
thatchers economic outlook- hard work
believed that everyone had to work hard to earn a living and believed no one should be dependent on the state. in alignment with this, she therefore believed that hard work should be rewarded and thus advocated for low income taxes because high taxes prevented people from beneffiting from what theyve earnedd
thatchers economic outlook- economic efficiency
thatcher emphasised the importance of economic efficiency. she argues that private companies were more efficient than gov agencies as they encouraged profit- believed the state had become too big, too costly and interfered too much in people’s lives. stifled individual freedom and the reason for Britain’s decline. therefore thatcher was determined to roll it back
how is it arguable that thatcher had a revolutionary impact on britains economy
thatcher arguably had a revolutionary impact on Britain’s economy. she overturned the political consensus that governments relied on since 1945 and supporters of Thatcher emphasise that her radical transformation had worked as the economy had become more competitive, productive and profitable. as such it is arguable that Thatcherism was a partial solution to the problems that caused earlier underperformance in the economy.
privatisation of BT
the privatisation of BT did more than anything to lay the basis for a share owning popular capitalism in Britain. for example, the government ran tv adverts to encourage the purchase of bt shares and more than 2m people participated. furthermore, the privatisation of bt had a subsequent impact n the privatisation of British gas- the success of privatisation meant it was viewed as acceptable and highly desirable
how many shareholders were owned by individuals in 1990 arguing against the development of popular capitalism
however by 1990, only 20% of shareholders were owned by individuals. this demonstrates the failure of a widespread share ownership as it became reserved for those in higher positions. to further reinforce this, the distribution of shares was also uneven as only 9% of working-class men owned any shares.
by how much did the number of shareholders increase between 1970-1990
the number of shareholders rose from 3m in 1970 to 11m in 1990. this indicates that privatisation changed the popular perception about the accessibility of share ownership.
