Economic policy of Margaret Thatcher.

Introduction. one

Historiography. 2

The economic development of Great Britain in the 70s - 90s. XX century. four

The origins of Margaret Thatcher's economic policy. four

Economic reforms Margaret Thatcher. 6

The theory of monetarism. 6

The actions of the Thatcher government in the field of economics. 7

Completion of Margaret Thatcher's career as Prime Minister of Great Britain. thirteen

The historical role of economic policy by Margaret Thatcher. 15

Conclusion. 19

Literature. 20

Introduction.

Margaret Thatcher (b. 1925) - Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1979 to 1990. She is rightfully considered one of the political leaders of the century. In many ways, she surpassed her famous male colleagues, her colossal performance was legendary, for almost 12 years, voters trusted her with the highest office in the country.

Relevance of the topic.

Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 in the wake of British dissatisfaction with the ineffective policies of Labor in the 70s. The economic situation in Great Britain was dire. Norman Stone, a close adviser to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, writes: “The most striking symbol of that era was the heaps of garbage on the streets of the largest cities in the country, around which hungry rats scurried. To visitors from Europe, especially from Germany, it seemed that they were in some third world country ... Such was the sad ending of the post-war era. " By 1990, the UK's position had improved significantly. Stone puts it this way: "The country has demonstrated such an ability to self-regenerate, which surprised the British themselves." The role of Margaret Thatcher in this amazing revival cannot be overemphasized. Her ideas and persistent implementation of them helped the UK to get out of the crisis and solve many problematic issues.

In the modern world, especially in Russia, the issue of state management in the context of an acute economic crisis has been and remains relevant. The study of world experience, analysis of various models of economic development with a general trend towards globalization of the economy seems to be a necessary condition for promoting a successful economic policy in the state. From this point of view, the path of economic development proposed by Margaret Thatcher cannot fail to attract attention.

The purpose This work is to analyze the main features of the economic policy of Margaret Thatcher in their historical context.

To achieve this goal, we set the following tasks:

§ Analyze the main changes in the UK economy made by Margaret Thatcher;

§ Consider the specific results of its activities;

§ To consider how the activities of Margaret Thatcher were assessed in the historical aspect.

Historiography.

Margaret Thatcher left a deep mark on British and world history. Numerous studies are devoted to Thatcherism itself as a political and historical phenomenon, as well as its individual manifestations in the domestic and foreign policy spheres. The work of both British and domestic researchers is devoted to the development of this topic, among which the leading place is occupied by the research of S.P. Peregudov, K. S. Gadzhiev, S. Madzoevsky, D. Marsh and R. Rhodes, S. Painter, D. Regan , P. Senker and others. Interesting are the data published by the witnesses of historical events - the Russian diplomat V. I. Popov and the American journalist Chris Ogden who personally met with M. Thatcher. Finally, one cannot fail to mention the book by Margaret Thatcher herself, The Art of Government Management. Strategies for a Changing World ”, reaffirming her views as a conservative polish. Let us dwell on the books that were the main sources of this work.

In the work of S. P. Peregudov "Thatcher and Thatcherism" (Moscow, 1996) there is both an image of the outstanding personality of M. Thatcher, and an analysis of the phenomenon of "Thatcherism", the fundamental element of which was the right-wing conservatism of the traditionalist persuasion. Peregudov emphasizes that this political model was formed even before Thatcher came to power, but only the "iron lady" was able to start implementing it. According to the source, the strength of British conservatism, as well as the British political system, lies in the fact that they give rise to leaders of the type like Thatcher, who, if necessary, turn to unconventional methods that can further develop and strengthen British traditions.

In the book by Margaret Thatcher “The Art of Government Management. Strategies for a Changing World ”can be divided into four large blocks of questions. First, it is a summing up of a bygone era - reflections on the lessons of the Cold War, the past and present role of the United States. Secondly, an assessment of the development paths of Russia, China, India and the countries of the Far and Middle East. Third, the threats posed to the world by instability in the Balkans, rogue states, Islamic extremism and international terrorism, as well as strategies to counter them. And, finally, there is the process of integration in Europe, fraught with the danger of an imperceptible expansion of the power of international institutions to the detriment of the independence of national states. The system of views that are presented and consistently defended in the book, Margaret Thatcher herself succinctly calls "conservatism".

Chris Ogden in the book “Margaret Thatcher. A woman in power: a portrait of a man and a politician "(M., 1992) describes in sufficient detail the biography of Thatcher, trying to explain her desire for politics, worldview and character by the traditions that have developed in her family, the political and economic situation in England and others, it would seem completely random , factors. The main task of the author is to tell about Margaret Thatcher not as a harsh politician, but as an ordinary woman who managed to overcome many difficulties, striving for her goal, to create an image of a strong, strong-willed woman, hiding her problems, worries and fears under mask of the omnipotent, fearless and always going only forward "iron lady". The source tells about Thatcher's personal life, her childhood and emotions hidden from extraneous emotions.

I., a prominent Russian diplomat who for several years was the USSR ambassador to England, used personal meetings and conversations with M. Thatcher in London and Moscow, as well as the memoirs of Thatcher herself recently published in England to write the book “Margaret Thatcher: Man and Politician. The View of a Soviet Diplomat ”(Moscow, 2000). The source describes in detail the personality of the "iron lady" and the events that accompanied her in the political arena. Analyzing the economic situation in Great Britain and its changes under Margaret Thatcher, the author uses statistical data. These data indicate that the Thatcher stereotype of "destruction of the social sphere" is not entirely true. Under Thatcher, pensions rose, the income of working British people, the number of homeowners and the number of shareholders increased significantly. However, the author also demonstrates the inflexibility of Thatcher's policy, her intentions to bring everything to the intended end, not being satisfied with half-measures and compromises.

The economic development of Great Britain in the 70s - 90s. XX century

The origins of Margaret Thatcher's economic policy

The 20th century is a time of historical events that took place both in individual countries and that captured entire continents, which had an impact on the whole world. Humanity found itself in the face of global political and economic processes, ups and downs and was looking for new ways to solve previously unknown problems. One of these problems was the economic crisis of 1974-1975. This one occupies a special place in the general chain of cyclical crises of overproduction. It coincided with a surge in inflation, which led to a breakdown of the existing structure of domestic prices, made it difficult to obtain a loan, and slowed down the recovery from the crisis. All this was superimposed on the energy crisis, which led to the disruption of traditional ties in the world market, complicating the normal course of export-import operations, destabilizing the entire sphere of financial and credit relations. The rapid rise in oil prices stimulated changes in the sectoral structure of the economy. The development of new energy-saving technologies has received a powerful impetus.

As a result of the disruption of international currency exchange and the increasing inconsistency of the principles of the Bretton Woods monetary system, the new conditions called into question its foundations. Already at the turn of the 60s - 70s, the purchasing power of the dollar has noticeably decreased. In the Western community, mistrust of the dollar as the main means of payment began to grow rapidly. In 1972-1973. the US government has devalued the dollar twice. In March 1973 in Paris the leading countries of the West and Japan signed an agreement on the introduction of "floating" exchange rates, and in 1976 the IMF canceled the official price of gold. Only in the second half of the 1980s was it possible to work out a more or less suitable formula for the Western countries of relations in this area.

The economic problems of the 70s became especially urgent against the background of the ever-increasing scope and features of a permanent process of the scientific and technological revolution (STR). The main content of this new phase in the development of scientific and technological revolution was the mass computerization of production, the introduction of computers into the most diverse spheres of production and management. This gave impetus to the beginning of a complex process of structural restructuring of the economy and the gradual transition of the entire Western civilization to a new phase, which was dubbed the "post-industrial" or "information" society. The development of automation, informatics and their spread to all spheres of economic activity had, albeit an indirect, but from this not becoming less significant impact on all aspects of the evolution of human civilization. First of all, the processes of internationalization of all economic life have noticeably accelerated. The gigantic concentration in the production and financial sphere, characteristic of the entire XX century, at this time made a qualitative leap: Transnational corporations (TNCs) began to define the face of the Western economy. In the first half of the 1980s, TNCs accounted for 60% of foreign trade and 80% of developments in the field of new technologies. TNCs every day more and more realistically claim to be the basis of the entire economic life of the West.

Economic crisis 1974-1975 played an important role in the profound transformation of the Western economy. It was a very painful process, especially at the first stage (the second half of the 70s), accompanied by large social costs: an increase in unemployment, an increase in the cost of living, an increase in the number of people knocked out of their usual life rut by these changes, etc. e years of perestroika began to pay off, especially in the USA, England, and the Federal Republic of Germany. The introduction of the latest technology has contributed to a significant leap in improving labor productivity. The new conditions required fresh conceptual solutions concerning the development of methods for regulating socio-economic processes adequate to the needs of the day. The old Keynesian method of solving these problems has ceased to suit the ruling elite of the leading Western countries. Traditional Keynesian prescriptions of increasing government spending, lowering taxes and making credit cheaper, generated permanent inflation and an ever-increasing budget deficit. Criticism of Keynesianism in the mid-70s acquired a frontal character. Gradually, a new conservative concept of economic regulation took shape, the most prominent representative of which at the political level was M. Thatcher.

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on discipline: "History of economic doctrines"

on the topic: "Economic policy of M. Thatcher"

Completed by: student OFK-12

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The Conservative government, which came to power in 1979, was headed by the energetic M. Thatcher, who proposed a completely new economic development program, radically different from all previous programs. This strategy of economic development went down in history under the name of neoconservatism. She rejected strict state regulation of the economy, i.e. Keynesian idea. (16)

Margaret Thatcher: A Political Portrait.

To understand Thatcher's political worldview, it is important to keep in mind her social origins. She does not belong to the traditional British establishment, but comes from the petty bourgeoisie, retaining strong sympathies for this environment. This largely explains the fact that important elements of Thatcherism's ideological concept were the return to "Victorian moral values," proclaimed by the conservatives, respect for family and religion, law and order, thrift, accuracy, hard work, independence, the primacy of individual rights, etc. (one)

Margaret Roberts was born on October 13, 1925 in the old town of Grantham in Lincolnshire. Her father was a grocer. Margaret's origins were not typical of those who held office in the Tory party. But it was her father, whose basic life principles were based on hard work, diligence and a sense of civic duty, who played a decisive role in her ascension in politics. “I owe almost everything to my father,” Margaret later admitted. (2)

With her mother's milk, she absorbed the spirit of Victorian England, but “from her youthful years, not only admiration for the provincial way of life entered into her life, but also the desire to break out of it, to enter the“ big life. ”(3) At the same time, her interest in politics, which was in no small measure aided by the prominent role of his father in the political life of his town as one of the leading conservative members of the local council.

The Roberts family lived very modestly. Margaret and her older sister Muriel grew up in an almost Spartan environment. Subsequently, when Margaret became prime minister, she would say: "It is what I learned in a small town, in a very humble home, that helped me win this election."

From an early age - already at the age of ten - Margaret took part in the election campaign. The Roberts actively supported the Conservative candidate. Margaret then acted as a liaison, delivering documents to the Conservative Party. She did the same in local elections. She herself later recalled that it was in the 30s that she began to "join politics" in connection with the occupation of Austria by Germany. “In those years, I began to understand politics, issues of war and peace, the rise of fascism and threats to the forces of democracy,” she said. (4)

Early in her interest in public speaking was awakened. "She learned to express her thoughts much earlier than her school friends, it is true, to choose words," her childhood friend testified. “A person simply has to speak correctly,” she told her father, asking him to pay the lessons. (5)

Having entered the chemistry department of the University of Oxford, she is actively involved in the work of the student conservative association. If in Grantham the character of Thatcher was laid and her hobbies were determined, then at Oxford she began to form as a politician. K. Ogden believes that “If M. Roberts had not been admitted to Oxford, she would almost certainly have become a politician. She was the daughter of her father, and politics was in her blood. But in this case, the path to the post of Prime Minister would be much cooler for her. ”(6)

When the war ended, Margaret had already completed half of her training. She did a lot on her own, especially chemistry, but it was obvious that she was less interested in doing this science than politics. In 1946 she became president of the Conservative Association of the University of Oxford. "Since then, politics has been the main interest of her life, and the profession of a chemist is less and less satisfying." (7) After working for about four years in this field without much success, in 1951 she married a wealthy businessman Denis Thatcher. This marriage, freeing her from worries about her daily bread, allows her to quickly graduate from the second, law, faculty of the same university with a clear focus on a political career. It is significant that even the birth of twins (son and daughter) in 1953 did not prevent this. In this regard, we note, "... that for all household chores and family life, she has just enough time so as not to forget that she has a family. Perhaps this has been the case all her life, starting from childhood." )

Thatcher wouldn't trade "... the late hours of the Commons or the weekends in the constituency, but she really regrets that she didn’t do more for her children. She is sensitive to toughness and is well aware that the difficulties of life of her children are part of the price that had to be paid for the obsession with work and political success. "(9)

After five years of the legal profession, having established a reputation for being an active and determined conservative, she was elected to parliament in 1959. Two years later, she became the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Social Insurance, and after the defeat of the party in the 1964 elections, she became the "shadow minister" responsible for the party's pension policy. Since 1967, she has been one of the leading "shadow ministers". After the victory of the party in the 1970 elections, he was appointed Secretary of State (Minister) for Science and Education, a member of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Thus, firstly, Thatcher grew up under the influence of her father and learned his principles. Secondly, from a youthful age she was engaged in politics, and with admission to Oxford, her political career began. Thirdly, Thatcher always recognized the priority of public affairs over family affairs. But speaking about the formation of Thatcher as prime minister, one should not forget about the difficult socio-economic situation in which Great Britain found itself by the 70s. According to some authors, it was this crisis that became decisive in the election of Thatcher as the leader of the Conservatives. Therefore, let's dwell on this in more detail.

In the life of politicians, there are such events when their whole future fate is determined, and they, from ordinary political figures, become the most influential, and, perhaps, the most respected politicians. For Margaret Thatcher, such an event was the election of a Conservative leader, when everyone in Britain started talking about her.

The issue of political leadership in the 70s in Great Britain became a national issue of paramount importance. The country was going through the most difficult times. Great Britain became at that time the "weakest link" in the world capitalist system. (10) The country's share in world industrial production was halved after the war - from 10 to 5%. Britain was overtaken not only by Japan, but also by Germany and France.

During the same period, changes took place in the mass public sentiment. There was a sense of dangerously heightened social tension. Many politicians and commentators assessed the situation as a "national crisis of confidence". The titles of some of the books that appeared in the mid-70s are eloquent: "The Collapse of Britain", "The Death of British Democracy." (11)

The conditions favored the election to the post of party leader with a radical, clearly articulating views and at the same time, an unconventional politician who responded to the sentiments of the petty-bourgeois activists of the party that had come into motion. She became such a leader in 1975. Margaret Thatcher.

“We can confidently assert,” S. Peregrudov believes, “that if it had not been for the change in the procedure for changing the leader among the Conservatives ten years earlier, as a result of which the circle of persons participating in his election was noticeably expanded ... Thatcher never would take this post. "(12)

As F. Pym wrote a few years later, “... in the atmosphere of uncertainty and doubt of that time, a personality appeared who could clearly and convincingly articulate his position ... The point of view that she expressed found an emotional response in the party, and then in the country. She offered something new. People felt that there were too many compromises on a number of issues that made matters worse. They felt that our economic and production problems were so deep that the policy of the golden mean could not solve them, and that something was needed more radical and definite. "(13) Other authors believe that Thatcher was simply" lucky "and that she ended up at the top of the political pyramid almost by pure chance, (14) since none of the more authoritative party figures then dared to challenge E .Hit, and she turned out to be practically his only rival in the first round of voting, during which the votes were divided not so much for her as against Heath.

There were many obstacles on the way to leadership, and another of them was that, according to the women themselves - members of the British Parliament, there were serious prejudices in the Conservative Party against women politicians. Thatcher, in this regard, said: "... It is absurd to say that a woman cannot lead a party. This is a strange and old-fashioned view." (15)

The new government analyzed the accumulated economic problems and came to the conclusion that in order for the country to get out of this situation, it is necessary to eliminate a number of shortcomings in the socio-economic system: 1) excessive power in the country ended up in the hands of trade union leaders, who were more often guided by personal interests and blackmailing big businessmen threats of strikes; 2) in England there was excessive taxation with the highest tax rates on personal income in the world - the standard rate of 33% of income tax was raised to 83%; 3) excessive inflation; 4) excessive power in the hands of the state, exercised by a slow and increasingly cumbersome bureaucracy.

Thatcher's conservative government decided to put an end to all this. The ideological basis of the new policy was several fundamental elements: a) free enterprise; b) personal initiative; c) extreme individualism. An important element of the ideological concept of "Thatcherism" was the return to "Victorian values" proclaimed by the conservatives - respect for family and religion, law and order, thrift, orderliness, hard work, independence, the primacy of individual rights, etc.

Margaret Thatcher intended to stem the long-term economic decline through a policy of "monetarism," cutting spending and taxation, curbing union power, denying subsidies to bankrupt enterprises, and "privatizing" state-owned industries. She spoke out against corporatism, collectivism and Keynesianism. She believed that inflation is more dangerous than unemployment. Therefore, one of the first steps taken by the conservatives was the passage of laws that significantly narrowed the almost limitless rights of trade unions to call strikes. And in 1980, 1982 and 1984. laws were passed that allowed the government to withstand the fight against the strike movement, in particular during the miners' strikes in 1984-1985. and printers in 1986. In 1979, nationalized industries accounted for 10% of the gross national product, and many of these industries have become symbols of laziness and inefficiency. As the practice of historical development has shown, without being spurred on by competition or fear of bankruptcy, the desire to improve efficiency weakens.

Therefore, one of the most important elements of Thatcher's program was the privatization of the socialized sector. (16)

From August 1984 to May 1987, 9 major concerns, or about 1/3 of all state property in industry, including telecommunications and gas industry enterprises, were transferred to private ownership. In October 1987, the government carried out an even larger transaction - the sale of shares in the oil company British Petroleum. The next industries on the denationalization list were the steel industry, followed by electricity and water supply. The widespread sale of these industries significantly increased the number of shareholders who were directly interested in the profitability of their businesses. In 1979, the number of shareholders was 7% of the voters, i.e. men and women over 18 years old, in 1988 - 20%. In terms of the number of shareholders, Great Britain ranked second in the world after the United States.

State-owned companies that have not yet been privatized have also undergone restructuring. They were given greater economic independence and financial autonomy. Government relations with such companies were increasingly built on the basis of contracts. State-owned enterprises were removed from the artificial favorable climate in which they were previously located. In particular, the prices of the goods and services they produced were no longer supported by special measures, but were completely determined by market conditions. (17)

The Thatcher government did its utmost to create "healthy competition" by the universal principle of economic progress, and this competition was increasingly transferred to the sphere of pricing, where competing companies were forced to reduce prices in the fight against each other.

Small, well-equipped small and medium-sized firms were able to respond flexibly to changes in the economic environment, which could not be said about many industrial giants.

The government actively supported and protected transnational corporations in which British capital played an important role. One of the most important specific features of the British economy was a high degree of "internationalization" in the leading industries. Only a few spheres of industrial production relied on a strong domestic market, had a high level of capital investment, and a developed R&D base. First of all, these are the chemical and aerospace industries, while the rest were mostly associated with international corporations.

The economic policy pursued by the Thatcher government resulted in the country's economic growth in the 1980s. on average at the level of 3-4% per year, which was higher than in other Western European countries. On average, 500 new firms were created each week. For the 80s. labor productivity grew on average 2.5% per year, second only to Japan.

Even more convincing was the growth in the efficiency of using fixed capital - capital return. England, apart from Japan, was the only developed country where this figure increased in comparison with the 70s.

Great importance in the program of restructuring the British economy was given to the issues of housing privatization. A significant part of the population in England rented houses from local authorities, which was a heavy burden on the local budget, and ultimately on the shoulders of the state. The Thatcher government set the task of making the majority of the British the owners of their homes. To this end, the government passed a law through parliament forcing local authorities to sell houses at reduced prices to tenants. The result of this government activity was that the percentage of homeowners increased significantly - from 52 to 66% by 1989. In subsequent years, this process continued.

The most important measures that stimulated the development of the economy of England were the adoption of a law to reduce the standard income tax rate, reduce the size of the state apparatus and the cost of its maintenance. So, the central ministries were reduced to a minimum - there were 16 of them, and among them there were practically no sectoral ones. The state was removed from direct intervention in the solution of purely economic problems.

The fight against inflation turned out to be a rather intractable task for the Thatcher government, but even here, thanks to the above measures, shifts were outlined: if in 1980 it was 16%, then already in 1983 it fell to 4% and in subsequent years it fluctuated within 6%. %.(16)

The recovery in the economy began in mid-1985, although in the next two years it was not stable. Since the second half of 1987, along with a noticeable acceleration in the pace of economic development, other signs of a transition to a new stage of growth have emerged - the volumes of loans provided have expanded, stock prices have reached a "peak", and already high housing prices have increased.

The most dynamic factors of domestic demand were consumer spending, which grew by 6.5%, and private investment, which grew by 10.3%.
Production grew rapidly in basic and knowledge-intensive manufacturing industries, as well as in housing construction. Nevertheless, it was possible to satisfy the demand in full only with the help of an unprecedented inflow of foreign goods. Among the components of demand, personal consumption has been expanding especially steadily during the years of recovery. This was caused by an increase in household incomes by 5.0% and a sharp decline in the savings rate to 1.3%.

The active use of loans also played an important role in stimulating consumer spending. The removal of restrictions in the credit sphere, the introduction of modern electronic settlement technology has spurred competition, and credit has become more affordable for the broad masses of the population. In 1988, the amount of consumer loans granted by financial houses, building societies, other specialized societies, as well as bank credit cards, increased to 42 billion pounds. In the structure of consumption, expenditures on durable goods grew at an outstripping rate, growing by 12% in 1988 against 6.8% in 1987, and primarily on cars, consumer electronics, personal computers, and housing. (16)

The largest increase in capital investments in 1988 was recorded in the automotive industry (by almost 1/3) and in the pulp and paper and printing industries (by 1/4). The highest volumes of investments were noted in the chemical industry. It should also be noted that programs of technical reconstruction and modernization of a number of basic industries - general electrical engineering, textile, etc., continued or were completed. All this contributed to a rapid growth in the production of investment goods, which amounted to 10%. At the same time, the exceptionally high growth rates of imports of manufactured products were achieved due to the fact that companies preferred to re-equip production with foreign equipment. The large scale of imports in knowledge-intensive industries such as electronics, office equipment and data processing equipment, which actually corresponded to the size of the English market, caused concern to the government. (17)

During the years of recovery, the imbalance in foreign trade increased. Since 1985, the rate of growth in the volume of imports of goods has been 3 times faster than exports. The growth of the pound sterling by 5.2% in 1988 worsened the competitiveness of British exporters and facilitated the import of finished goods, which ultimately led to a deficit in the balance of payments. In a generally favorable environment, employment in the economy increased by 1.2%. The overwhelming majority of those who got a job worked in the service sector; in the manufacturing industry, the number of people employed declined.
Along with the expansion of employment, unemployment declined. In February 1989, 1.9 million people, or 6.8% of the labor force, remained unemployed, against 2.6 million, or 9.8%, in December 1987. In September 1988, the M. Thatcher government announced the start of a vocational training program for the unemployed at a cost of
£ 1.4 billion The program was designed for annual training in industrial specialties and the subsequent employment of about 600 thousand people who have been unemployed for a long time.

Thus, it can be noted that since the beginning of perestroika, serious shifts and changes have been outlined in the British economy. Overall in
80s Britain was the only leading country in the world where the aggregate indicator of production efficiency increased, in other countries it either did not change or decreased.

However, perestroika in England did not go without problems. Social polarization has increased in society. The fact is that the Thatcher government implemented a program to reduce social spending, and also tightly controlled wages. One of the most important provisions of the Conservative program was: to make the workers "live within their means", and the enterprises - to "shrink", to reduce the labor force by intensifying production, thanks to which it was possible to give the desired dynamism to British industry. The result of this policy is that the average per capita income in real terms has increased by 23% in ten years. At the same time, about 20% of families had an average annual income below £ 4,000, which was a fairly low subsistence level for the British. (16)

The concept of a "welfare state", based on a high level of taxation and including such components as free education, medical care, a system of state pensions, etc., was shared by all post-war British governments, be they Labor or Conservatives. (17)

Thatcher's government had to face the problem of changing the psychology of the bulk of the population, because it had to destroy the centuries-old system of social guarantees “for everyone” and replace it with a new scale of values, individualistic - “every man for himself.” (16).

And yet, in ten years (from 1979 to 1989), it was possible to change the moral and political climate in the country, which was largely facilitated by profound structural changes in society itself. The number of the working class directly employed in production declined, employment in the service sector expanded, the stratum of owners of small firms, including family firms, grew, and a social group of highly paid middle-level managers emerged. All this led to the fact that in the 80s. to "medium< му слою" стали относить себя большинство английских избирателей. К концу 80-х гг. 64 % англичан имели собственные дома, более 70% -- автомобили, 46 % -- видеомагнитофоны, больше половины могли позволить себе обеспечить платное образование для детей.

At the turn of the 80s and 90s. alarming signs have emerged in the social, economic and political life of Great Britain. Thus, a serious miscalculation of the conservative cabinet of M. Thatcher was the implementation in the spring of 1990 of the local tax reform, which provided for the introduction of a new electoral law. The economic benefits were negligible, and the socio-psychological consequences had an extremely negative impact on the prestige of the government, whose socio-economic policies irritated many Englishmen. In 1990, J. Major became the new leader of the Conservatives and Prime Minister of Great Britain. M. Thatcher resigned.

Thanks to the efforts of the new prime minister, England signed the Maastricht agreements on August 2, 1993. This agreement was a logical development of the economic and political relations that developed between a number of European states and England within the EEC. With its full implementation, the European Union should become, in fact, an economic "superpower", at least equal to the United States and significantly superior to Japan. The agreement provides for the introduction of a single monetary unit, the "abolition" of borders and the creation of supranational bodies for regulating economic and political issues. (17)

In the first half of the 90s. positive processes took place in the UK economy.

Thus, the gross domestic product grew rather steadily and unemployment decreased. If in the first quarter of 1993 the GDP was 2.5%, then in the first quarter of 1994 it was 4%; the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 1993 was 10.5%, in the first quarter of 1994 it was 9.9, and in the fourth quarter
1994 - 8.9%.

A particularly important achievement of the new government was the improvement of the trade balance.

During the period from 1991 to 1995, it was possible to ensure a favorable combination of persistently high growth rates and the lowest since the beginning of the 60s. the rate of inflation. In addition, the state of the balance of payments has noticeably improved, which in 1995 for the first time since 1987 was closed with a surplus.

Second half of the 90s proved to be quite difficult for the Conservative party. Although in his election program in 1997
J. Major promised voters a gradual reduction in income tax by 20% and government spending to 40% of the GNP, as well as the construction of a more prosperous Britain, the Labor Party nevertheless won the elections.

New Prime Minister Tony Blair practically did not change the main economic course of the Conservatives, admitting that "the Tories made a lot of right steps in the 80s ...". He promised that his main tasks would be, firstly, to consider the fight against unemployment, secondly, the introduction of a minimum wage, and thirdly, the signing of the EU social charter, which was opposed by the conservatives, so as not to be bound by obligations that could adversely affect the competitiveness of national products; fourth, the development of the education system and the improvement of technical training. In addition, he promised to create assemblies for Scotland and Wales, hold a referendum on the advisability of switching to the "euro" and on amending the constitution, as well as introduce a rolling tax.

An important point in Blair's program was the rejection of nationalization, which attracted many business representatives to his side. “In politics, it is important to set achievable goals for yourself,” he says, “and to focus very clearly on what needs to be done.” Thus, summing up the economic development of England in the 80s and 90s, it should be noted that "Thatcherism" in relation to the conditions of Britain turned out to be quite effective.

The face of England has changed significantly. "Thatcherism" as a British model of neoconservatism confirmed that capitalism turned out to be a flexible system capable of adapting to changing socio-economic conditions, restructuring and modernizing. (16)

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4) Popov V.I.Margaret Thatcher: a man and a politician (The view of a Soviet diplomat). M., 1991.S. 37.
5) Ogden Chris. Maggie. An intimate portrait of a woman in power // Foreign literature. 1991 No. 4 P.150
6) Ogden Chris. Maggie. An intimate portrait of a woman in power // Foreign literature. 1991 No. 4 P.151.
7) Peregrudov S.P. Margaret Thatcher. // Questions of history 1988. №10 P.61.
8) Popov V.I.Premier. // Week 1990 # 48 P.15.
9) Ogden Chris. Maggie. An intimate portrait of a woman in power // Foreign literature. 1991 No. 4 P.184.
10) Contemporary Record. 1987. No. 3, p.13.
11) Nairn T. The Break up of Britain., L., 1976; Haseler S. The Death of British Democracy. L., 1976
12) Peregrudov S.P. Margaret Thatcher. // Questions of history 1988. №10 P.61.
13) Pim. F. The Politics of Concent. 1985. p.22.
14) See e.g. Kavanagh. D. Thatcherism and British Politics. Oxford. 1987. p.199.
15) Quoted. by Popov V.I.Margaret Thatcher: Man and Politician (The View of a Soviet Diplomat). M., 1991.S. 22.

16) Economic history of foreign countries: A course of lectures; edited by Prof. Golubovich. - Minsk: NKF “EKOPERSPEKTIVA”, 1998. - 462 p.
17) Konotopov M. V., Smetanin S. I -History of Economics: .- Textbook for universities. -
M .: Academic Project, 2000. - 2nd edition - 367p.

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In the late 70s, the country's financial and economic problems worsened. J. Callagen's Labor government was unable to cope with the situation and the House of Commons in 1979. gave him a vote of no confidence. Parliament was dissolved, and the Conservative Party won the new elections. For the first time in the history of England, a woman, Margaret Thatcher, became prime minister.

The Conservatives came to power with a clear program of action, the goal of which was to bring Britain out of socio-economic stagnation.

M. Thatcher believed that for this it was necessary: \u200b\u200bfirst, to stop inflation, the increase of which was destroying the economic life of the country, and secondly, to reduce taxes on corporate profits and personal income, which would make it possible to increase investment in the economy; thirdly, to minimize government interference in economic and social affairs, which until now has had a negative impact on the development of the economy; fourth, to "tame" the trade unions, which, according to the conservatives, have concentrated excessive power, which undermined the development of business. So, the proposed program provided for fundamental changes in the socio-economic sphere. Peregudov S. P. Thatcher and Thatcherism / S. P. Peregudov., Moscow: Nauka, 1996. P. 128.

M. Thatcher's cabinet has been steadily and consistently implementing the program. He strove to provide maximum freedom to private entrepreneurship, to promote the growth of the role of corporations and the market in regulating business processes while limiting the state's business activities. The government began to systematically reduce the public sector of the economy. In the fight against inflation, a course was taken to reduce the growth rate of government spending, in particular, to cut social programs. The government launched an attack on trade union rights. The employment laws adopted by the parliament complicated the procedure for announcing and holding strikes, provided for the prosecution of organizers of illegal strikes, and made picketing of enterprises more difficult.

During this period, this included lowering business taxation, building "people's capitalism" by selling municipal homes to residents, and finding a balance between employers and trade unions.

The most interesting features of this period, however, were the two macroeconomic goals of the Thatcher government. The first was to defeat inflation, which had reached 20% by 1979, and the second was to adopt a balanced budget. Both of these goals were considered as necessary, but insufficient conditions for the growth of the British economy. Peregudov S. P. Thatcher and Thatcherism / S. P. Peregudov., Moscow: Nauka, 1996. P. 137.

The policy developed to achieve these goals was reduced to a medium-term financial strategy - some version of monetarism, or at least an attempt to control some parameters of the money supply and, second, control over the budget deficit. As for the credit of confidence, an important aspect of this policy was that in the context of tariff negotiations for a relatively high level of wages, it (the policy) led to a strong industrial decline, thus imposing severe political costs on the Thatcher government.

Speaking of Margaret Thatcher, Anthony King emphasizes: "She has her own political views, which are different from most of the members of the Conservative Party. She is determined to make her position the position of the government and is ready to risk her authority on an unprecedented scale."

The government's measures have provoked mixed reactions. They began to give economic results only after a while, but they immediately affected the material interests of broad strata of the population. In 1979-1982. England was gripped by an economic crisis, exacerbated by inflation. Unemployment has reached significant proportions. The government's position remained difficult.

The budgets of 1980 and especially 1981 were the exact opposite of the Keynesian argument that government intervention is required to get the economy out of a manufacturing downturn. In 1981, £ 4 billion was taken out of the economy, while unemployment rose rapidly.

However, since 1982. the economic situation began to improve, and in 1985. the rise began, which continued until 1990. The rate of inflation has noticeably decreased, unemployment has begun to decline (from 3.3 million in 1985 to 2.3 million in 1988). Labor productivity rose sharply. The successes of the 80s in the development of the British economy are called the "English miracle" Peregudov S. P. Thatcher and Thatcherism / S. P. Peregudov., Moscow: "Science", 1996. P. 143.

They significantly influenced the development of the economy and the strengthening of finances, the discovery and development of oil fields in the North Sea, off the coast of Scotland. Great Britain not only fully provided itself with energy resources, which previously required huge funds, but also became an exporter of oil and petroleum products. As a result, England's foreign debt has decreased significantly. The gold reserve has increased. The rate of the pound sterling has grown.

Economic successes contributed to the growth of incomes of the population (annually by 7-8%). During the 1980s, the number of shareholders in England tripled, exceeding 8 million - every third Briton became the owner of shares; 15 million families (60% of the total) live in their own houses or apartments. In terms of these indicators, England is close to the level of the United States.

The rise in the material standard of living of the population helped to mitigate social contradictions. As in other developed countries, there was a sharp decline in the strike movement. The number of trade unions has decreased. The last big strike was the general strike of miners, which lasted almost a year - from March 1984. until March 1985 More than 180 thousand miners took part in it, protesting against the decision of the authorities to close some unprofitable mines, but they failed to achieve success. The government showed unshakable firmness, and did not make any concessions to the miners (it was not for nothing that M. Thatcher received the nickname "iron lady" in the press) Peregudov S.P. Thatcher and Thatcherism / S.P. 1996.S. 154.

The successes achieved in economic and financial recovery strengthened the positions of the Conservative Party, the government and M. Thatcher personally. She became the longest-serving British prime minister in the 20th century. However, at the turn of the 80s and 90s, the positions of the "iron lady" began to weaken, some concrete steps in the field of domestic and foreign policy were sharply criticized in the leadership of the Conservative Party and in the government. At the end of 1990. M. Thatcher was forced to resign.

During the reign of Margaret Thatcher, a lot of banking outlets in depressed areas of Great Britain were closed, as a result, now 10%. the territory of England is deprived of banking services, that is, the population does not have bank accounts.

The anti-inflationary policy of the Thatcher government had positive results. Already in 1982 - 1983. Inflation rates dropped to 5% in the late 80s. - up to 35 per year, that is, up to the value recommended by the monetarist school in political economy.

Another important direction of the reforms was the course towards a significant reduction or (in a number of sectors of the economy) towards the complete elimination of state entrepreneurship. This was expressed, first of all, in the implementation of a broad denationalization of enterprises in the state sector of the economy and the preferential stimulation of private business.

Since 1980, the Thatcher government dulled to conduct a large-scale campaign to denationalize state-owned enterprises. Private firms were sold rich oil fields in the North Sea, factories for the production of radioactive isotopes, a national company for the transportation of goods, coal mines, etc. The government's special attention was directed to the privatization of the oil, steel, aerospace industries, and air transport. It is characteristic that only profitable enterprises were sold to private hands. The share of capital investment in the British economy on the part of state bodies (central government and local authorities) and nationalized sectors of the economy fell sharply in the early 1980s. It was only 25% against 50%, characteristic of the period of the Labor Party's tenure.

The Tory government has increased tax breaks for private businesses. The income tax rate of the largest corporations was subsequently reduced, first to 50 and then to 35%. The amount of loans provided by banks to industrial companies has grown. Employers' contributions to social insurance funds for the employed labor force were canceled. The government followed the path of consistently expanding the level of freedom of economic activity of entrepreneurs. In 1982, the Labor Party's provision for the preferential recruitment of union members was abolished. In some enterprises, the rights of trade unions were significantly restricted. All kinds of solidarity strikes were declared illegal. Stimulating the business activity of private entrepreneurs has a positive impact on the overall course of economic development in the UK

The reforms of M. Thatcher's cabinet also affected the foreign economic sphere of the British economy. In October 1980. all restrictions on the export of capital, which had existed in the country for more than 40 years, were lifted. After the abolition of foreign exchange restrictions, the export of private capital from Great Britain began to grow at a faster pace than in the 1960s.

The UK government encouraged foreign investment in its economy. The leading place among foreign investors in Great Britain was occupied by American companies. In addition, some developing countries with relatively high rates of economic growth have been very successful in this regard. Thus, Brazil, Mexico, India, Singapore, and the Philippines successfully invested in the national economy of Great Britain in the 80s.

The Thatcher government paid close attention to foreign trade issues. Already in the early 1980s, the country's exports began to exceed imports. The most important stabilizing factor in this area was the receipts of one of the few developed capitalist countries that managed to balance the trade balance with a significant excess of exports over imports. In order to ensure the required level of competitiveness of English goods in world markets, the Conservative government has developed a series of measures aimed at intensifying production, stimulating productivity growth, and also reducing wage costs.

M. Thatcher's government carried out a restructuring of the national economy. The rationalization of production, in particular, was carried out through the release of surplus labor at enterprises.

The results of the reform efforts of the Conservative government showed up very quickly. Already in 1982. in the country, the growth in production became evident, which has increased since the end of 1983. Experts analyzing the situation in the UK economy of that period suggest that the main factor in maintaining the relatively high rates of economic growth in the country in the mid and late 1980s was personal consumption. The growth of personal consumption of the population was favorably affected by the decrease in inflation rates. In addition, the most important element of the government's tax policy - the reduction of the income tax - had a positive impact.

A significant increase in gross domestic product was noted, British industry began to develop at a faster pace, as well as non-industrial sectors of the economy: trade, communications, transport, indicators of the state of the financial and banking sector of the economy improved. Thus, already in the mid-80s. Great Britain has shown average rates of economic growth typical for developed countries.

Raising the level of industry in the 80s. It was facilitated by the fact that most of the investments were directed to the replacement and modernization of equipment, the introduction of new energy and resource-saving technologies. For example, already in the early 1980s, investments in machinery and equipment accounted for more than 76% of all investments in the country's manufacturing industry. Investments in oil production were constantly growing.

Industrial growth was facilitated by the fact that the cadres employed in British industry were among the most skilled in the world. The Thatcher government maintained a high level of spending on research and development work in the military field, with the state assuming the bulk of the costs. Thus, in the first half of the 1980s, 70% of military developments in the field of the aircraft industry were financed from the state budget. All research work on the development of nuclear weapons was carried out under the control of the state. Typically, Great Britain ranks 5th in the world after the USA, Japan, Germany and France.

The leading industries are machine tool, electrical, aviation, chemical, electronic and automotive industries.

The Tory government promoted measures leading to increased intensification in agriculture, stimulated the development of agricultural science with the aim of breeding new highly productive livestock breeds and breeding high-yielding plant varieties. A characteristic feature of the agrarian development of Great Britain in the 80s. There was a fusion of agrarian and industrial capital through intensive integration.

So, as a result of the vigorous activity of the Conservative government, changes for the better have taken place in the economic life of Great Britain: the decline in industrial production has been stopped, the inflation rate has been sharply reduced, and the position of London as one of the world's financial centers has been strengthened.

In the case of the United Kingdom, we found that the 1979-1983 policy, although used with full confidence, was successful and created a credit of confidence in the government, thanks to the change in the level of public tolerance for high unemployment, which was preceded by the crisis of the late 1970s.

Even in a crisis, some reforms will succeed and others will fail. This is largely determined by specific conditions - different systems and different leaders. It is difficult to imagine the reforms of Margaret Thatcher being carried out in other countries or carried out in Britain under other leaders. Peregudov S. P. Thatcher and Thatcherism / S. P. Peregudov., Moscow: "Science", 1996. P. 171 - 180

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

BELARUSIAN STATE ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC HISTORY

on the topic: The politics of neoconservatism by Margaret Thatcher in England

FFBD, 1 course, FF-3 A.A. Kizchenko

Checked

professor V.I. Golubovich

Introduction …………………………………………………… ..3

The essence of neoconservatism ……………………………… .4

M. Thatcher's coming to power ………………………………… .7

Economic recovery …………………………………… ..9

“Thatcherism” ……………………………………………… 12

Conclusion ………………………………………………… .16

List of sources used …………………… ... 17

Introduction

The contradictions of structural restructuring, the exceptional complexity of adapting to the new conditions of reproduction and the world market, the severity of class and social conflicts, make it necessary for the bourgeois state to extensively intervene in the economy, to find its new forms and methods.

The sharp deepening of the general crisis of capitalism is associated with the action of a number of factors. This is a deterioration in the reproduction of capital, stagflation, short-term or complete absence of a boom phase, unemployment, the growth of inter-imperialist rivalry.

The interaction and interweaving of long-term and cyclical factors in the deepening of the general crisis of capitalism became the decisive cause of the crisis in the system of state monopoly regulation of the state. Based on Keynesian doctrine, the methods of state monopoly regulation were aimed at stimulating aggregate investment and consumer demand. They mainly pursued short-term countercyclical goals. This policy relied on the use of financial and tax instruments and viewed the budget deficit as one of the most important “built-in stabilizers”. Despite all the limitations and contradictions, its methods (although they led to a violation of the proportions of the sphere of monetary circulation) temporarily ensured the achievement of a short-term effect: the phase of crisis and stagnation was replaced by a phase of recovery and recovery.

Keynesian recipes turned out to be unsuitable for solving the new strategic tasks of state monopoly regulation of the economy. Such objective processes in the development of the world capitalist economy as the intensification of foreign economic relations and the growing internationalization of production also acted in the same direction. These processes increase the interdependence and mutual influence of the capitalist economies and make it difficult for individual bourgeois governments to perform the functions of stabilizing the conjuncture. And, finally, the utter inability of Keynesian methods to combat chronic inflation was revealed.

The crisis of the mining and metallurgical complex contributed to the deepening of the crisis of the bourgeois political economy. The ruling class and its ideologues, disillusioned with Keynes, turned to the search for new remedies to cure the chronic ailments of capitalism. The result of this conceptual development effort was a rightward turn in bourgeois economics. Widespread and growing influence on the politics of bourgeois governments, various conservative doctrines are acquiring. This process has been called the "neo-conservative turn".

The essence of neoconservatism

In the center of fierce discussions between representatives of various branches of bourgeois political economy, the question once again turned out to be: more or less state. The neoconservatives accused their opponents of the fact that the system of state regulation based on their recommendations was not only unable to counteract unfavorable factors of economic development, but also limited the possibilities of the market economy for self-healing and effective self-regulation. Caused by objective contradictions, the decline in labor productivity growth, aggravation of resource and economic problems, a decrease in the rate of productive accumulation, destructive inflation rates, and an increase in the army of unemployed were attributed by the neoconservatives to ineffective state economic policy.

The neoconservatives do not refuse to use the state mechanism to stabilize capitalism, but call for drastically limiting the sphere and changing the forms of state intervention in the economy. As the main goals of the state's economic policy and the means of achieving them, they name the promotion of economic dynamics by stimulating private capitalist initiative and combating inflation by methods of regulating the money supply. The fundamental thesis of the neoconservative concept is that market competition between independent producers can correct all structural imbalances and ensure long-term economic growth, full employment, and monetary stability if favorable conditions are created for it and its mechanism is not disturbed.

The concept of "neoconservatism" has a broader meaning than the term "neoconservative economic policy". According to N. Bernbaum, professor at the Georgetown Center for the Study of Law, "neoconservatism is an amalgamation of very different themes, groupings and movements with different attitudes. It is more of a trend, state of mind, fad or even fashion." N. Bernbaum gives the following list of topics developed by neoconservative theorists in the United States:

the theme of market primacy, that is, belief in the efficiency of the free market and a relatively unregulated form of corporate capitalism, as well as in the need to preserve an exceptionally strong private sector as a guarantor of political freedom;

criticism of "big government" or central government or government initiative. Based on several popular slogans - bureaucratization, autonomy of bureaucrats, their inaccessibility to control by the public or legislative bodies, increasing centralization;

the regularity of the distribution of society according to the principle of social heterogeneity and the distribution of benefits;

protection of traditional values \u200b\u200b- family, cultural, religious, technological, etc .;

strengthening the power (military, economic, political) of the United States in the world;

The theoretical basis of neoconservative recommendations in the field of economic policy is the so-called supply-side monetarism. Between these two constituent parts of neoconservatism, there is a kind of delineation of functional roles:

the first is designed to justify measures to stimulate economic growth

second, measures to combat inflation.

Both theories are based on the most vulgar and reactionary doctrines of the neoclassical school.

The development of the theoretical postulates of "the supply side economy is associated with the names of American economists J. Gilder and A. Laffer. According to J. Gilder," the successes of capitalism lie on the supply side. "Therefore, the task of state economic policy is to stimulate supply in every possible way in order to" reward the producer and encourage the investor. "The main instrument of" incentives "should be tax policy. Stimulating supply by providing financial incentives for private investors automatically creates the necessary demand and will lead, in the end, to a gradual recovery of the capitalist economy.

The stimulating effect of the tax policy of expanding the investment activity of monopoly enterprises is not at all unambiguous. Profits obtained as a result of tax cuts are by no means always used productively, becoming a source of expanding the supply of goods and services. The realities of today's capitalism consist precisely in the fact that the possessing strata prefer to use their free capital for speculation in the money market, takeover of competing firms, acquisition of equity participation in existing companies, rather than investing them in new industrial, construction and other facilities. The rich get richer. However, the capitalist economy does not receive any impulses from this to increase production and labor productivity.

Representatives of the ideas of monetarism in modern bourgeois political economy rely on the work of M. Friedman, professor at the University of Chicago. Friedman develops his concept of the inflationary process and methods of its containment. He sees the main reason for inflation in the "excessive" increase in the amount of money in circulation. The culprit is the "excessive" money supply is the state, or rather, its growing spending, mainly for social needs. The recipes offered by the monetarists to counter inflation and "general recovery" of the capitalist economy are very attractive for big business. This is a reduction in “charitable spending by the state, a reduction in taxes on the wealthy, a tough monetary policy aimed at curbing and stabilizing the growth rate of the money supply.

Margaret Thatcher's rise to power

Forget I'm a Woman

A turning point in the economic and political life of England was the election in May 1979, which was won by the Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher. This government adhered to a completely new development strategy, which went down in history as neoconservatism.

By the beginning of 1979, the economic situation in England had deteriorated significantly. Inflation, which had dropped from 20 to 7.5%, again exceeded the 10% mark. The standard of living of the British was falling, wages were below the European average. The once powerful, industrialized England in terms of per capita income ranked only in the second ten. Labor productivity and the quality of industrial equipment produced in the country also declined. The fall in living standards caused a powerful wave of strikes, as a result of which many branches of British industry were practically paralyzed. A government crisis was growing in England. The Laborites in power, who did not have a parliamentary majority until that time, were supported by the Liberals and a number of other parties. However, the liberals began to move away from Labor. Parliamentarians from Wales and Scotland also expressed their dissatisfaction with the government.

Opposition leader Margaret Thatcher immediately took advantage of the situation and filed a vote of no confidence in the government. The atmosphere in parliament on election day on the issue of confidence in the government was tense. Until the last moment it was not clear whether the Labor government would survive. To stay at the helm, the Labor cabinet lacked one vote - 310 parliamentarians voted for the government, 311 for a vote of no confidence. Thus, the prime minister and the government headed by him were forced to resign, which had not happened in England for half a century. New elections were scheduled for May 3, 1979.

Of course, Thatcher wanted to bring her party to power. The party manifesto, which, according to contemporaries, she wrote herself, was, in fact, a program for the country's revival. The first thing Thatcher promised was to lower inflation. She not only announced that the rise in prices would slow down, she intended to achieve this by cutting spending on the state apparatus. At the same time, it was noted that plans for cuts in government spending will not affect the health sector. The Conservative electoral platform, which was voiced by Margaret Thatcher, also assumed the restoration of incentives for the development of entrepreneurship. In particular, it was supposed to reduce the upper limit of taxes. It was also announced about the reduction of taxation of the low-paid strata of the population. The main thesis, which has always sounded in the campaign speeches of Margaret Thatcher, is that state interference in the economic development of the country as a whole and in the activities of each company and each person individually should be kept to a minimum. The entire economic policy of the Conservatives was based on this. Developing the idea of \u200b\u200beconomic freedom of the individual, Margaret Thatcher also advocated the possibility of a person becoming the owner of shares in privatized enterprises, the owner of housing. Therefore, in her election program, attention was paid to both the privatization of nationalized industries and the expansion of private land ownership. Margaret Thatcher also spoke about plans to expand rental houses on more favorable terms and provide housing for young families. These promises were of particular concern to the British, who pay great attention to family and home comfort.

Despite the convincing campaign promises of the Conservatives, their victory in this election was not obvious until the very last moment. The very same Margaret Thatcher spent the day on the eve of elections in her constituency in Finchley. On May 3, she received the majority of votes, although by a smaller margin than before from other candidates. The final election results were impressive - 13 million 697 thousand people voted for the Conservatives, 11 million 532 thousand for the Laborites, and 4 million voters cast their votes for the Liberals. As a result, thanks to the majority system of representation, the Conservatives won 339 out of 635 parliamentary seats. Such a parliamentary majority allowed Thatcher to hope for the implementation of his political program.

So, Thatcher took over the residence of the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. At that time, it was still difficult to predict the depth of the socio-political changes that this event entailed. The concepts of "Thatcherism" and "Thatcher revolution" will appear later. But many in England already then guessed that it was not just a change of government that had taken place.

Economic growth

Thatcher's government had to radically reduce the regulatory function of the state in the economic life of society, abandon the hypertrophied influence of trade unions on socio-economic policy, reduce inflation and extremely high taxes, and cut state budget expenditures and the money supply. Reduce the role of the bureaucratic apparatus in the economy, etc. build your policy on the principles of economic liberalism. It was necessary to get away from the psychology of dependency and shift the solution of social problems onto the shoulders of the able-bodied population, instilling in him the desire to earn his own support for himself and his family.

Perhaps the biggest headache for the new government was the nationalized enterprises. Most of them were unprofitable and hung on the state budget. A decisive privatization of this sector was required in order for the feeling of constant danger of bankruptcy in a competitive environment to force enterprises to work efficiently. This also reduced the cost of their maintenance. During 1984-1987, nine major concerns were privatized, accounting for a third of all state ownership in the gas industry and telecommunications. In 1987, the government sold shares in the British Petroleum oil company, and later in the steel and aerospace industries, electricity, water supply, and air transport. In general, the Thatcher government sold more than $ 25 billion of state enterprises in the 1980s.Private firms could acquire rich oil fields in the North Sea, factories for the production of radioactive isotopes, coal mines, and a national company for the transportation of goods was privatized. ... It should be noted that only enterprises that had no losses were subject to privatization.

In the course of privatization, public investment by both the government and local authorities fell sharply: from 50%, which was typical for the period when Labor was in power, to 25% in the 1980s. Large-scale privatization made it possible for a wide segment of the population to become shareholders. In terms of the number of shareholders, England ranked second in the world after the United States. As for the remaining state-owned enterprises, they were given great economic and financial powers and they were no longer in greenhouse conditions. As a result, the prices of their products were no longer artificially maintained, but obeyed the laws of the market.

One of the most important measures taken by the Thatcher government was the privatization of housing, since by the early 1980s, the bulk of the urban population rented housing from the municipal authorities. The housing economy was unprofitable, so its maintenance was a heavy burden on local budgets, and ultimately on the state. In the British Parliament, a law was passed on the sale of housing by local authorities on favorable terms to tenants, which made them the owners. The privatization process went fast enough, and by 1989 66% of tenants had become homeowners.

Among the first steps of the new government were initiatives to pass laws (1980, 1982, 1984) aimed at reducing the extremely high rights of trade unions when they call strikes. All kinds of solidarity strikes were declared illegal. This allowed the government to survive in the fight against the strike movement, in particular during the grand strike of miners (1984-1985) and the strike of printers (1986). In 1982, the government reversed a Labor clause that prioritized union members in recruiting, which was quick to see business expansion in the country.

For conservatives, private enterprise is the driving force behind all prosperity. The basis of the political course should be “freedom, opportunities for all, support for the entrepreneurial spirit, democracy of property owners”. State interference in economic life should be minimized; it should in no way constrain private initiative. The government, therefore, was determined to follow the path of developing freedom of entrepreneurship. The focus of the Thatcher government's attention was the sphere of small and medium-sized business, which has now occupied an important place in the economic structure of England.

The most difficult challenge facing the government was fighting inflation. To reduce it, loans provided by the state to the private sector were drastically reduced, the growth rates of the money supply in the country, etc., were strictly controlled.

The fight against inflation required tight control over the state budget. An indispensable condition for reducing inflation was a reduction in government spending on industry, utilities and roads, culture, etc. In general, budget expenditures fell by 4 billion pounds. Art. (1980-1981). The size of the state apparatus and the expenditures for its maintenance have noticeably decreased: in the government, for example, there is not a single ministry that dealt with sectoral issues. Thus, the state reduced not only its intervention in solving economic problems, but also budget expenditures.

The anti-inflationary policy of the Thatcher government gave its positive results. If immediately after he came to power in the late 1970s, inflation reached 16% per year, then in 1983 it was 4%, and during the 1980s it did not exceed 6%. From the second half of 1982, the English economy began to feel signs of recovery, which became clearly visible in 1983: the volume of loans extended, the stock price of the country's most significant companies increased, consumer spending of the population grew (by 6.5%) and private investment (by 10 , 3%); the volume of production increased in the leading branches of industry, in housing construction. Analysts believe that one of the main factors behind this economic recovery was the steady growth in personal consumption, which was fueled by a 5% increase in household income and a decline in the savings rate.

The reforms of the Thatcher government also affected the foreign economic relations of England. In October 1980, the restrictions on the export of capital, which had existed for 40 years, were removed. In the early 1980s, the average annual private capital investment averaged 3.5 billion

f. Art. Moreover, about 80% of all exported capital was sent to the USA, Canada, and the EEC countries.

So, during the 1980s, there were marked changes in the social structure of England. Against the background of favorable changes in the economy, unemployment dropped significantly, with most of the former unemployed shifted from the industrial sector to the service sector. In 1988, a vocational training program for the unemployed was adopted.

The number of owners of firms in all sectors of the national economy increased, and a layer of managers was formed that was new to English society. All this indicated that the majority of the population in the country began to consider themselves the "middle class". By the end of the 1980s, 64% of families had their own homes, more than 70% had cars, more than half were able to teach their children in paid educational institutions that provided a higher level of education.

"Thatcherism"

Margaret Thatcher needed a strong cabinet. Of course, it is necessary for any prime minister, but she put her own meaning into the concept of “strong”. Thatcher believed that only a “cabinet of the convinced,” whose members would be devoted to her ideas, would be able to accomplish the assigned tasks.

Thatcher divided all politicians into two categories: "some of us" and "some of them." It was her favorite expression throughout her political career. And when asked on what principle she divides people into these categories, she answered that the criteria are hard work, reliability from the point of view of personal responsibility and faith in the philosophy in which she believes.

Possessing great political intuition, she understood that key posts should be given to loyal supporters of her economic program, and other portfolios should be distributed to politicians who could give the cabinet authority and influence. This is exactly what she did.

Jeffrey Howe was appointed to the post of Chancellor of the Treasury, like Thatcher, he was an adherent of monetarism. John Biffen became Chief Secretary of the Treasury, First Deputy Howe, Keith Joseph was the Minister of Industry, and John Knott was the Secretary of Commerce. The government also included politicians who will play a significant role in the political career of Margaret Thatcher - Leon Britten, Nagel Lawson, Cessile Parkinson, Peter Rees. All these politicians defended the interests of big business. Thatcher's circle of supporters is closed on them.

Of the 22 members of Thatcher's first cabinet, 18 were once in the Heath administration. Not all of them approved of the economic policy proposed by the Prime Minister. As a result, Thatcher had only nine ministers in the first cabinet, whose support she could count on. And about the same number in its composition were those who openly opposed Thatcher's concepts even when she was the leader of the opposition.

The first Thatcher government immediately embarked on the Tory economic program with which they came to power. The economic platform on which this program was built was called "tetcherism", and its consequences were later called the "Thatcher revolution." It was based on the principles that Margaret Thatcher proclaimed at the very beginning of her political career: freedom of enterprise, minimizing government interference in economic activity, reducing direct taxation, stimulating the development of private business, eliminating monopolies and promoting competition.

The most important element of Thatcherism was its unswerving adherence to the principles of monetarism. The economic doctrine of monetarism has been popular since the early 1960s, when its author, Milton Friedman, published the book Capitalism and Freedom. The essence of this theory, as interpreted by the British press, is that the cause of inflation lies in the excess of the growth rate of the amount of money in circulation over the rate of increase in the economic product. This ratio can be influenced with the help of political will, because the government has the technical ability to control the release of money into circulation and, therefore, can reduce this gap. Another important aspect of the theory of monetarism is that economic policy should not restrict the freedom of action of entrepreneurs, interference in the mechanism of capitalism is not necessary and can only lead to a decrease in productivity. Any regulation of the economy should be left to the "free market".

Thatcherism policy was carried out primarily through the formation of the country's budget. The 1979-1980 budget was drawn up with the most active participation of Margaret Thatcher. It marked a fundamental change in the financial policy of the state. First of all, this concerned tax policy. The marginal tax rate on income from employment has been reduced by 25%. The top rate on capital gains was lowered from 98% to 75%, which meant the abolition of the virtually complete confiscation of large profits imposed earlier by the Labor Party. Now part of the funds that previously came to the state income could be directly directed to the development and modernization of production.

But the main focus was on reducing government spending. Thatcher has set the goal of cutting costs by £ 3.5 billion on so-called "spending ministries." Staffs were cut by 10-20% in every department, except for the ministries of health and defense. In general, from 1979 to 1989, the number of civil servants decreased from 732.3 thousand to 567.2 thousand.

Thatcher's intervention in ministries, which she demanded to reduce staffing and costs, was unprecedented. She did not trust the staff of the ministries and often conducted on-site inspections. Moreover, Thatcher introduced this practice into the system.

To improve the efficiency of public administration, the Thatcher government carried out a "managerialization" of the state apparatus. Managers of private corporations, including foreign ones, were involved as advisors for the development or implementation of certain measures. So, to carry out the modernization of the ferrous metallurgy, and then the coal industry, the American millionaire J. McGregor, who had a reputation as a ruthless cruel manager, was brought in.

A byproduct of the government's new financial policy was a surge in inflation and an increase in the number of unemployed. However, the second budget was drawn up on the same principles. State spending on the social sphere was further reduced, and new benefits were provided to small and medium-sized businesses. Benefits were provided for the creation of new businesses in areas of industrial decline. And the third budget was completely "draconian". Loans to the public sector were cut by £ 3.5 billion and new indirect taxes were introduced (on gasoline and engine oils, cars, cigarettes and alcohol).

As a result of the measures taken by the government, the cost of living has increased significantly. Thousands of economically unpromising firms went bankrupt, unable to adapt to new market conditions, industrial production fell by 9%. The industry had to develop in conditions of recession, high interest rates (interest on loans) and almost without government assistance.

But the main problem was the catastrophic rise in unemployment. On the one hand, the revival of private business created additional jobs, on the other hand, the ruin of most of the small firms, and the development of new technologies by large industrial companies led to an overabundance of labor. That is, the entire Thatcher policy led to a natural increase in unemployment.

The head of government said in her speeches that the reforms cannot give effective results at the first stage and the growth of unemployment is inevitable. She compared the first effects of the reforms with the effect of a medicine, after which, in the end, recovery appears.

However, even five years after the Conservatives came to power, the number of unemployed in England reached a record figure, exceeding 3 million.

Although high hopes were pinned on monetarist policy, the Thatcher government was forced, starting in 1982, to significantly soften the rigidity of its financial course. In addition, Thatcher did not manage to achieve significant cuts in government spending. Expenditures began to decline as the economy developed in subsequent years, but overall, their decline was not very significant.

A social split began in British society. The rise in unemployment and the government's unsuccessful attempts to stop it have led to an increased sense of alienation in society and the emergence of the concept of "two nations" - haves and have-nots. The Thatcher government received a flurry of criticism. The trade unions were sharply opposed to the government's policy - they demanded Thatcher's resignation. The Laborites submitted to parliament a resolution of no confidence in the government, but the Conservative majority was able to reject it.

Despite the difficult economic and political situation in which England found itself in the first period of the Thatcher reforms, the government showed commitment to its chosen course and decisiveness in further implementation of reforms. Despite this, the position of the Thatcher government was so precarious that it is not known how its further fate would have developed if the attention of the British had not switched from internal problems to foreign policy events in 1982 (the Falklands War).

Conclusion.

In my opinion, the history of civilization has not known such rapid structural changes that the modern world has witnessed. These changes have become a new stage of development. The changes associated with it are widely interpreted as a decisive transition to a comprehensive intensification of production. Moreover, it is qualitatively different from its previous forms. The situation with the provision of production with basic resources, especially irreplaceable ones, has changed. Qualitatively new technologies and technical means are being used. The roles of some spheres of the economy of elements of economic complexes have changed. Naturally, with the development of productive forces, social processes also become more complex. Bourgeois socio-economic thought, for which major changes seem to threaten the viability of capitalism as a social system, is making efforts to build a concept of justifying the course of survival. For this, social “costs” are justified, allegedly inevitable for the modernization of the national economy and the deployment of foreign economic expansion. Basic ideas adapt to changing conditions, although the origins of such concepts are by no means new. The wave of "neotheories" cannot be underestimated. To popularize them, the increased capabilities of technical media, sophisticated methods of attracting the attention of the population to biased selected facts and the most shameless distortion of their meaning are used. The rapidly expanding network of industrial infrastructure made it possible to increase the mobility and efficiency of administrative and economic decisions, and in critical situations opened up the possibility of maneuvering.

List of sources used

1. Voropaeva O. Margaret Thatcher (The life of famous people). - Minsk: LLC "Kuzma", 1998.

2. Gadzhiev K.S. Contemporary conservatism. - M .: Nauka, 1992.

3. Larin V. London diary. - M .: Politizdat, 1983.

4. Sazhina. Scientific foundations of the economic policy of the state. - M .: Norma-infra, 2001.

5. Bodrov V. Modern economic conservatism: reassessment of values \u200b\u200bor repetition of the past? - Kiev: Lybid, 1990.

1) excessive power in the country ended up in the hands of trade union leaders, who were more often guided by personal interests and blackmailing big businessmen with threats of strikes;
2) in England there was excessive taxation with the highest tax rates on personal income in the world - the standard rate of 33% of income tax was raised to 83%;
3) excessive inflation;
4) excessive power in the hands of the state, exercised by a slow and increasingly cumbersome bureaucracy.

Thatcher's conservative government decided to put an end to all this. The ideological basis of the new policy was several fundamental elements:

a) free enterprise;
b) personal initiative;
c) extreme individualism.

An important element of the ideological concept of "Thatcherism" was the return to "Victorian values" proclaimed by the conservatives - respect for family and religion, law and order, thrift, orderliness, hard work, independence, the primacy of individual rights, etc.

Therefore, one of the first steps taken by the conservatives was the passage of laws that significantly narrowed the almost limitless rights of trade unions to call strikes. And in 1980, 1982 and 1984. laws were passed that allowed the government to withstand the fight against the strike movement, in particular during the miners' strikes in 1984-1985. and printers in 1986

In 1979, nationalized industries accounted for 10% of the gross national product, and many of these industries have become symbols of laziness and inefficiency. As the practice of historical development has shown, without being spurred on by competition or fear of bankruptcy, the desire to improve efficiency weakens. Therefore, one of the most important elements of Thatcher's program was the privatization of the socialized sector.

The widespread sale of these industries significantly increased the number of shareholders who were directly interested in the profitability of their businesses. In 1979, the number of shareholders was 7% of the voters, i.e. men and women over 18 years old, in 1988 - 20%. In terms of the number of shareholders, Great Britain ranked second in the world after the United States.

Another important direction in the economic program of the conservatives is the emphasis on the development of small and medium-sized businesses. Small and medium business has become a new force in the structure of the UK economy. He successfully got along with large monopolies, complementing them even in the most modern industries, as well as in the service sector. Small, well-equipped small and medium-sized firms were able to respond flexibly to changes in the economic environment, which could not be said about many industrial giants.

The most dynamic factors of domestic demand were consumer spending, which grew by 6.5%, and private investment, which grew by 10.3%. Production grew rapidly in basic and knowledge-intensive manufacturing industries, as well as in housing construction. Nevertheless, it was possible to satisfy the demand in full only with the help of an unprecedented inflow of foreign goods. Among the components of demand, personal consumption has been expanding especially steadily during the years of recovery. This was caused by an increase in household incomes by 5.0% and a sharp decline in the savings rate to 1.3%.

The largest increase in capital investments in 1988 was recorded in the automotive industry (by almost 1/3) and in the pulp and paper and printing industries (by 1/4). The highest volumes of investments were noted in the chemical industry. It should also be noted that programs of technical reconstruction and modernization of a number of basic industries - general electrical engineering, textile, etc., continued or were completed. All this contributed to a rapid growth in the production of investment goods, which amounted to 10%. At the same time, the exceptionally high growth rates of imports of manufactured products were achieved due to the fact that companies preferred to re-equip production with foreign equipment. The large scale of imports in knowledge-intensive industries such as electronics, office equipment and data processing equipment, which actually matched the size of the English market, caused concern to the government.

In a generally favorable environment, employment in the economy increased by 1.2%. The overwhelming majority of those who got a job worked in the service sector; in the manufacturing industry, the number of people employed declined. Along with the expansion of employment, unemployment declined. In February 1989, 1.9 million people remained unemployed, or 6.8% of the labor force, against 2.6 million, or 9.8%, in December 1987. In September 1988, the Thatcher government announced the launch of a £ 1.4 billion vocational training program for the unemployed. The program was designed for annual training in industrial specialties and the subsequent employment of about 600 thousand people who have been unemployed for a long time.

Thus, it can be noted that since the beginning of perestroika, serious shifts and changes have been outlined in the British economy. In general, in the 80s. Britain was the only leading country in the world where the aggregate indicator of production efficiency increased, in other countries it either did not change or decreased. However, perestroika in England did not go without problems. Social polarization has increased in society. The fact is that the Thatcher government implemented a program to reduce social spending, and also tightly controlled wages. One of the most important provisions of the Conservative program was: to make the workers "live within their means", and the enterprises - to "shrink", to reduce the labor force by intensifying production, thanks to which it was possible to give the desired dynamism to British industry. The result of this policy is that the average per capita income in real terms has increased by 23% in ten years. At the same time, about 20% of families had an average annual income below 4,000 pounds sterling, which was a fairly low subsistence level for the British.

The ideas of free enterprise, individualism and the minimal role of the state collided with the deeply rooted belief in the British mind that the state was "obliged" to provide a certain set of social guarantees to all its members without exception. The concept of a "welfare state", based on a high level of taxation and including such components as free education, medical care, a system of state pensions, etc., was shared by all post-war British governments, be they Labor or Conservatives.

Thatcher's government had to face the problem of changing the psychology of the bulk of the population, because it had to destroy the centuries-old system of social guarantees "for all" and replace it with a new scale of values, individualistic - "every man for himself."

And yet, in ten years (from 1979 to 1989), it was possible to change the moral and political climate in the country, which was largely facilitated by profound structural changes in society itself. The number of the working class directly engaged in production declined, employment in the service sector expanded, the stratum of owners of small firms, including family firms, grew, and a social group of high-paid middle-level managers emerged. All this led to the fact that in the 80s. the majority of English voters began to identify themselves as the "middle stratum". By the end of the 80s. 64% of the British had their own homes, more than 70% - cars, 46% - VCRs, more than half could afford to provide paid education for their children.

At the turn of the 80s and 90s. alarming signs have appeared in the social, economic and political life of Great Britain. Thus, a serious miscalculation of the conservative cabinet of M. Thatcher was the implementation in the spring of 1990 of the local tax reform, which provided for the introduction of a new electoral law. The economic benefits were insignificant, and the socio-psychological consequences had an extremely negative impact on the prestige of the government, the socio-economic policy of which caused "irritation" among many Englishmen. In 1990, J. Major became the new leader of the Conservatives and Prime Minister of Great Britain. M. Thatcher resigned.

The new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom practically did not change the economic program of M. Thatcher, and the first half of the 90s. was a logical continuation in the development of private entrepreneurship and an active state policy in the field of financing science-intensive production, small and medium-sized businesses. Thanks to the efforts of the new prime minister, England signed the Maastricht agreements on August 2, 1993. This agreement was a logical development of the economic and political relations that developed between a number of European states and England within the EEC. With its full implementation, the European Union should become, in fact, an economic "superpower", at least equal to the United States and significantly superior to Japan. The agreement provides for the introduction of a single currency, the "abolition" of borders and the creation of supranational bodies for regulating economic and political issues.

In the first half of the 90s. positive processes took place in the UK economy. Thus, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew rather steadily and unemployment decreased. If in the first quarter of 1993 the GDP was 2.5%, then in the first quarter of 1994 it was 4%; the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 1993 was 10.5%, in the first quarter of 1994 it was 9.9%, and in the fourth quarter of 1994 it was 8.9%.

A particularly important achievement of the new government was the improvement of the trade balance. During the period from 1991 to 1995, it was possible to ensure a favorable combination of persistently high growth rates and the lowest since the beginning of the 60s. the rate of inflation. In addition, the state of the balance of payments has noticeably improved, which in 1995 for the first time since 1987 was closed with a surplus.

Second half of the 90s proved to be quite difficult for the Conservative party. Although in his 1997 election program, J. Major promised voters a gradual reduction in income tax by 20% and government spending to 40% of GNP, as well as the construction of a more prosperous Britain, the Labor Party nevertheless won the elections.

An important point in T. Blair's program was the rejection of nationalization, which attracted many business representatives to his side. “In politics, it’s important to set achievable goals,” he says, “and focus very clearly on what needs to be done.”