Margaret Thatcher has died

[KtROSE]

Here's the funny thing about this. I was arguing against the argument that Thatcher is somehow largely to blame for the current situation. If we can blame her then for all the bad stuff since she got booted out by her own party in the late Eighties, then surely by the same token she's responsible for the good stuff too; like those budget surplus years shown in the graph you posted to me. Is she responsible for those too ?

[lisadawnash]

The overall trend in the years since Thatcher first became PM seems to be of a rather 'brittle' economy that is too heavily dependant on the global financial market and far less on what we actually produce in this country. So yes, you're going to get 'peaks' when the economy seems to be on the up for a bit, but then you're going to get 'troughs' when it's on the way down.

I know that you get that anyway, because it's the nature of a capitalist economy, but the point is that the strategy she put in place, and which subsequent governments have continued, has exacerbated the situation.

Picking out a temporary upturn in the economy as evidence that the longer-term prognosis is rosy is a bit like saying that global warming isn't happening because it's a bit chilly today.

[mizbehavingirl]

I don't think you can say that it was her strategy to have a large public debt as we do now, and that is what is exacerbating the situation we find ourselves after the banking collapse. It seems well accepted that in her time public spending was kept well in check. And we can neither blame her for where the banking sector ended up 20 years later either. You really believe a prime minister strategizes for 20 + years down the line? They're more or less strategizing to win the next election from what I can tell.



You've lost me, is this something I have done ?

[QuorltothConnor]

Quite true.

I don't think people realize that their Country is walking on a tightrope from all manner of perspectives: in terms of navigating micro and macro economic events, commitments to global and domestic endevours such as crime, war, education, collaboration for stability and for trade.

The leader must balance the short term threat of the country falling into crisis along with the long term goals - however the short term pressures are so tight and demanding that people in power do the best they can to keep things afloat. That is why you see a trend of Red/Blue leaders voted in, because the Country needs short term fixes - the Reds take too much from the coffers, the Blues give too much away. Neither keeps people happy.

Maggie sailed the ship and got us through, it is up to the next leaders to mitigate the collateral damage from her poorer choices.

Sometimes though, you only have a bad choice to chose from.

[CougarJ]

Does the UK have much of a production power anyway? I know we have a fairly substantial agriculture sector thingy but normal production? I don't see how a country our size could compete with other European countries let alone places like China or the US?

Just to make it clear as well I know next to nothing about economics

[CommanderK9]

Harper attended. I guess someone told him there'd be pandas there.

[tatteredeteddy]

We used to compete. It's not all about volume. It's also about quality. Which is something countries like China still look to Britain for. We're also a technologically advanced country. We still do a lot of R&D. We still invent new technologies and make existing technologies better.

ARM is a great example. British company, designs some of the most advanced CPUs in the world. Then licenses the designs to several manufacturers and helps them customise the design to their own needs.

The high point of British manufacturing will never return. But we don't need it to. We don't need to dominate the world. We just need to carve out our slice of the pie.

[mizzmixtαpε]

Talking about carving out a slice of the pie. What could possibly go wrong with NHS back door privatisation.

[RoySantosN]

Without the critics speaking out and the street parties the Conservatives and the BBC would have quite happily forgotten about all the hurt Thatcher caused with her policies. Even with the protests the Conservatives insist she "saved the country". Something the BBC has been more than happy to give plenty of air time and repeat.

There are always two sides to a story and the sort of hardships Thatcher's policies caused should never be forgotten if we put any value in the welfare state at all and avoid those sorts of hardships in the future. Which is particularly important at the moment with the Conservative ideology being rammed down our collective throats with the "deficit" being used as an excuse.

Thatcher came to power under similar circumstances.