Economic Policy under the Conservatives

Dunn, Mike; Smith, Sandy

doi:10.1007/978-1-349-23444-8_5

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Inflation was running at 10 per cent when the Tories come to power (Jackson 1992, 25). This rose sharply (1980–81) to a peak of around 20 per cent (Brittan 1989, 20; Dunn and Smith 1994, 79; Hay 2009)—a product, arguably, of the monetarist conversion in policy failing to bite immediately and of the abandoning of Labour's policies on wage restraint (Thompson 1996, 169). The rise in inflation was, in effect, a consequence of the rapidity of the paradigm shift.…”

Section: Thatcherite Influence In Specific Policy Domainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing the Ontological Status of Thatcherism by Gauging its ‘Periodisability’: Towards a ‘Cascade Theory’ of Public Policy Radicalism

Hay¹,

Farrall²

2011

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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What, if anything, was Thatcherism? This article aims to gauge the extent to which it is credible and useful to speak of Thatcherism in the singular. It does so by developing a series of periodisations of the policy-making process in different policy domains since the late 1970s. This allows us to assess the degree to which a common rationale-such as might be associated with Thatcherism (as an instinct or project)-is exhibited in the sequencing of policy developments in different fields. In the process we seek to establish a new and more generally applicable methodology for establishing the existence of path-shaping political projects (such as Thatcherism) by gauging their periodisability. We conclude that the label Thatcherism is, indeed, warranted, since an account couched in such terms can illuminate an analysis of policy development since the late 1970s in a range of fields and can contribute to our understanding of the timing and sequencing of policy developments in each domain. Thatcherism, in other words, can be said to have existed because Thatcherism is periodisable. Our approach leads us to develop a 'cascade' theory of public policy radicalism and spillover between issue domains.

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Section: Thatcherite Influence In Specific Policy Domainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing the Ontological Status of Thatcherism by Gauging its ‘Periodisability’: Towards a ‘Cascade Theory’ of Public Policy Radicalism

Hay¹,

Farrall²

2011

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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“…Thus the ratio of household debt to disposable income increased dramatically: having remained 'steady at 40-50 per cent in the 1970s and early 1980s, [it] rose from about 45 per cent in 1982 to just over 50 per cent in 1984, and then to over 90 per cent in 1990'. 5 Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s this trend only continued, so that the United Kingdom had experienced the largest increase amongst developed economies in total debt relative to GDP between 2000 and 2008, with its ratio reaching 469 per cent, and comprising a 52 per cent increase in household debt. The marketisation of welfare provision, coupled with rising living standards for sections of the core electorate, mitigated the effects of an overall intensification of labour and the increasingly precarious nature of full and part-time employment.…”

Section: Dismantling Social Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Crisis for the State or Crisis of the State?

Macartney

2011

Political Quarterly

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The Conservative‐Liberal Democrat government's policy risks turning the financial crisis into a crisis of the state. This article argues that the current trajectory of the British state risks exacerbating the very social antagonisms which it has fought so hard to contain in recent years. It contends that the crisis (2007–09) was a crisis of neoliberalism and yet, paradoxically, neoliberalism—in the form of further depoliticisation and a new politics of debt—is being re‐invoked to deal with the post‐apocalyptic condition of the British economy. The article suggests that the state lacks the necessary political discourse to secure popular consent and—as a result—is resorting to a more coercive form of political management; and that the effects of austerity are being offset through an increased indebtedness of the British public. Both risk igniting social conflict. In the conclusion several points are indicated for an alternative political agenda.

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Explaining the Crime Drop I: Developing a Case Study of Political Change in England and Wales

Farrall

2017

Re-Examining the Crime Drop

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Economic Policy under the Conservatives

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Establishing the Ontological Status of Thatcherism by Gauging its ‘Periodisability’: Towards a ‘Cascade Theory’ of Public Policy Radicalism

Establishing the Ontological Status of Thatcherism by Gauging its ‘Periodisability’: Towards a ‘Cascade Theory’ of Public Policy Radicalism

Crisis for the State or Crisis of the State?

Explaining the Crime Drop I: Developing a Case Study of Political Change in England and Wales

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