Description:
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher's new government was faced with rampant double-digit inflation, rising unemployment and flatlining economic growth. In response, Thatcher pursued an economic policy which rejected the old orthodoxies and was promoted by only a minority of economists: a policy based on the doctrine of monetarism.
Tim Lankester was the private secretary for economic affairs to Thatcher during the early years of her government. His insider's account explains her attitudes and decisions and those of the other main players in this deeply damaging experiment in economic policy making, which promised much but completely failed to deliver.
Offering fascinating insights into one of the most unsuccessful episodes of British economic history, he also examines the legacy of monetarism for the economy today.
Brief description: Sir Tim Lankester, KCB, was Margaret Thatcher's first private secretary for economic affairs.. He was subsequently Britain's representative on the boards of the IMF and the World Bank; Permanent Secretary at the former Overseas Development Administration; Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; and President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He is the author of The Politics and Economics of Britain's Foreign Aid: The Pergau Dam Affair (Routledge, 2013).
Review Quotes:
"Achieves what very few political books do, which is give the ideas of economics a relevance to time and place....explains them clearly and relate(s) them to historical persons set in a lively narrative." Sir Simon Jenkins, journalist and author
"A sparkling tome which illuminates the theory and practice of monetarism and sets out the role of the civil servant even when they have deep misgivings about a policy." Sir Suma Chakrabarti, former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
"A cautionary tale of correct diagnosis but misguided cure by Mrs Thatcher. It shows convincingly why invoking the mumbo-jumbo of Monetarism was not the way to administer the deflationary policy and change to labour law needed to control the inflation surge she inherited." Marcus Miller, Warwick University
"A breath of fresh thinking ....monetarism of the Thatcher years was a disaster. Sheds so much clear light on the wrong decisions of that era." Lord Vinson, co-founder of the Centre for Policy Studies.