| |
|
See also Reaganomics and Rogernomics. Thatcherism is characterized by a free market liberalism perhaps more closely associated with Victorian Liberalism in the United Kingdom, monetarist economics, low taxation, trenchant opposition to militant socialist organisations, -- especially the Trade Unions -- and a suspicion of the institutions of the British Welfare State. Thinkers closely associated with Thatcherism include Keith Joseph and Milton Friedman.
Support for Thatcherism was strongest in south east England, the wealthiest region of the United Kingdom, and the greatest beneficiary of Thatcherite policy.
Thatcherism is widely credited with reviving a stagnant economy in which too much power has in the hands of Trade Unions, leading to artificially high labour costs and uncompetitive industry. Others would argue, however, that Thatcherism had little, if any, benefit to ordinany workers, citing the reduced power of Trade Unions and the lack of state control on unemployment levels due largely to privitisation.
Whether it ultimately benefited Britain or not, it destroyed the post-war consensus of British politics. In 2001 Peter Mandelson, a member of parliament belonging to the British Labour Party closely associated with Tony Blair, famously declared that "we are all Thatcherites now".