Social Policy; Sample paper:
Thatcher’s government thrived under the neoliberal pseudo-economics ideologies. Thatcherism can as such be described as a political platform that emphasized on the free markets characterized by tax cuts and restrained government spending. This was further backed by British nationalism, both locally and abroad. Thatcherism is generally compared to classical liberalism (Vlad, 2014, 600). In this context, Thatcherism can be described succinctly as a libertarian ideology. Her economics are associated with the monetarism economic theory. Her government placed much emphasizes on controlling inflation instead of unemployment. Thatcherism is also linked with the conservative morality stance. An example of conservative morality in her government is the introduction of state regulation within the British film market. Thatcher ideals can be listed as free markets, firm control over public expenditure, financial discipline, nationalism, privatization, tax cuts, and a dash of populism.
Thatcherism has been associated with several initiatives. First, it sought to control supply of money as a means of checking inflation. This was founded on the view that inflation is a product of too much money in circulation in the economy as posited in the monetarist theory. Thatcherism is equally linked with supply-chain economics through their policy of the government’s intervention by privatizing state industries, increasing restraints to trade unionism, and lowering taxes (Vlad, 2014, 600). This is in contrast to Keynesian economics, which posits on the role of the government on stimulating economic growth through increasing demand by increasing credit as well as public spending.
Moreover, Thatcher’s period in office is in record as having overseen two major housing acts, the 1980 and the 1988, which are considered to have fundamentally changed the housing system in UK to date. The implications of these two acts have been long –reaching and are still reverberating around the housing environment to date. It is argued that these changes to a great extent are to blame for the 2008 financial crash (Christophers, 2013, 885). What is striking about the changes is the interplay that occurred in giving rise to these changes; the conflating of the social conservatism and economic neo-liberalism. Thatcher’s government championed the policies on extension of home ownership as well as the transferring of the social housing from the local authorities over to other landlords. These housing policies were aimed at extending the market in the housing sector while checking the local authorities’ influence, a reflection of her economic neo-liberalism.
Nevertheless, Thatcher’s effort in championing of subsidies in an effort to promote home ownership can be described as a reflection of her social conservatism. However, this philosophical position elicited a lot of criticism with arguments that they distorted the entire housing market. Notably, her government transferred from economically productive house building subsidies in support of rents and mortgages. This legacy exists today where for each £1 public subsidy that is spent on house building, £5 is consequently allocated in support of housing cost in contrast to the 1979 ratio of £1: 1 (Christophers, 2013, 885). To Thatcher, home ownership was a key contributing factor to a moral and cohesive family life. This philosophy echoes in today’s relations between fecklessness and welfare dependency and social tenancies.
Thatcherism thrives to date with many of the policies and philosophies still being felt in UK’s politics. For instance, Tony Blair’s leadership is closely associated with the legacy of Thatcher. He particularly proceeded with more privatizations, outsourcing contracts, bank deregulations, and tax cuts in during his tenure. Many argue that despite her death, her neoliberal pseudo-economics lives on.
References
Christophers, B 2013, ‘A Monstrous Hybrid: The Political Economy of Housing in Early Twenty-first Century Sweden’, New Political Economy, 18, 6, p. 885.
Vlad, C 2014, ‘Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, “The Iron Lady” of British Politics during the Second Half of the 20th Century’, Journal Of Research In Gender Studies, 4, 1, p. 600