Thatcher's Politicial Legacy.

[Gups]

The Germans seems to be doing pretty well with a large manufacturing sector. Why couldn't the UK?

We couldn't do corporatism, the Germans could. We couldn't do decent management, the Germans could.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Each and every view proven wrong by the last 5 years or so.

So...you think large scale government ownership of economic resources has been proven correct by the last 5 years?

The primary thing I think the last five years has proven is the disastrous combination of economic downturns coupled with large budget deficits.

Explain to me why German economy has been doing so much better than the UK one over the last 5 years, then.

Partly because it did so much worse in the 15 years preceding the past 5.

[grumbler]

She may have taken things a bit too far...but things would be only slightly different otherwise.  She is rather over-rated IMO both by her detractors and supporters.

I think that you are correct that she simply did, in a lot of ways, what her successor would have been forced to do had she not done them.  The British economic model of her predecessors was utterly unsustainable.  Had Britain elected a competent PM in the late 60s or early 70s, that PM could have accomplished what she did with less pain.  Her successors would have done it with more pain.  I give her credit for seeing what bullet needed to be bitten, and biting it.  But you are right that she was no revolutionary.

She was a change, and one that, in retrospect, seems to me to have done far more good than harm to Britain.  If she had a fault, it was staying in office too long.

[Legbiter]

I don't think Thatcher was some great genius but they seem to dream that somehow the modern world would never have intruded on Britain if she had never lived.

Agreed. Has Pittsburg recovered from Reagan era?

[mongers]

Explain to me why German economy has been doing so much better than the UK one over the last 5 years, then.

The German economy has consistently done better than the British economy for fifty years.

But this is sorta funny.  The German economy has hardly been booming.

And what goes along with one of those ?




Hint: Cal will like the answer.   

[Richard Hakluyt]

Don't  forget that the IMF was called in back in 1976 and the necessary cuts made were far greater than any made by a Thatcher government. The adjustment started (under duress) during a Labour government and continued under Mrs Thatcher's Tory government. Both critics and fans of Mrs Thatcher should bear this in mind.

[Zanza]

Partly because it did so much worse in the 15 years preceding the past 5.

This. The UK briefly surpassed Germany in GDP/capita in the early 2000s. Germany was called the sick man of Europe a decade ago. Just like Britain before Thatcher. Schröder's Agenda 2010 was not as divisive and far-reaching as Thatcher's reforms, but he is also loathed by many Germans.

[Warspite]

On foreign policy, Thatcher's record is mixed.

She won the Falklands, but her government's own defence review before the Argentine invasion nearly meant the UK did not have the capability to take them back, given its focus on North Atlantic ASW rather than expeditionary operations.

She lost badly the argument on German reunification, but she called it on the collapse of Yugoslavia better than her party did, who had little clue with how to deal with a disintegrating multi-ethnic federation in post-Cold War Europe.

On Northern Ireland, her stance was actually quite pragmatic, recently declassified documents show. Even while she turned up the public rhetoric, Thatcher was actually willing to use back channels of communication and suggest compromises.

A strong stance against communism was matched by a failure to make a stand against Apartheid, which regrettably has to be a serious stain on her foreign-policy record.

[Zanza]

I can't really comment on her domestic policies for lack of knowledge. I think she was wrong to oppose German reunification though. That was a historical chance that had to be taken.

[Martinus]

She was also wrong to cuddle with Pinochet. I think she was classic cold war politician - devoid of morals and simply supporting enemies of enemies.

[DGuller]

Why is it that conservative politicians seem to be prone to dementia late in their lives?  Reagan, Thatcher, and Pinochet all were going mentally long before going physically.

[fhdz]

Why is it that conservative politicians seem to be prone to dementia late in their lives?  Reagan, Thatcher, and Pinochet all were going mentally long before going physically.

Your sample size is 3?

[CountDeMoney]

On foreign policy, Thatcher's record is mixed.

She won the Falklands, but her government's own defence review before the Argentine invasion nearly meant the UK did not have the capability to take them back, given its focus on North Atlantic ASW rather than expeditionary operations.

Considering the state of NATO/WP relations in the 60s and 70s, that wasn't an unrealistic defense/defence posture/pocture, and a necessary one. 

And concerning the Falklands, quite frankly I don't think anybody had expected the UK to ever fight another colonial war and require an 8,000 mile force projection capability.

[Zanza]

Privatising Margaret Thatcher's funeral would be a fitting tribute to her legacy
The Iron Lady herself would surely agree that poor taxpayers should not be further burdened in these times of austerity

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/22/privatising-thatchers-funeral-fitting-tribute-legacy

[DGuller]

Why is it that conservative politicians seem to be prone to dementia late in their lives?  Reagan, Thatcher, and Pinochet all were going mentally long before going physically.

Your sample size is 3?

Those were the three conservative icons of that era.  Who else is there?