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Will America’s Lady Thatcher Show Up In Time?

April 12, 2013 05:20

“Thatcherism” was the most popular and successful way of running a country in the last quarter of the 20th century and into the 21st.

By Monty Pelerin

I have little admiration of politicians in the same manner that I have little respect for slave masters. On a relative scale, one can rank them from worst to less bad. It is unnatural for men to rule other men. As Lord Acton said: “Power corrupts and abolute power corrupts absolutely.” The rise of the modern state grants any sociopath willing to run for and win office something approaching absolute power (and absolute corruption). There are few exceptions to the Acton axiom. And even these are eventually corrupted from whatever ideals they may have held.

Lady Margaret Thatcher was one of these. She was not perfect and eventually she was influenced by her power. Yet, it can be argued that she saved Britain and in this respect was at least as important figure as Winston Churchill. In the Statist world in which we reside, the previous comment may be ridiculed as Ms. Thatcher was the polar opposite of everything that our modern day progressives believe and try to implement. But ridicule is no substitute for facts and argumentation. Our current mountebanks cannot defend their nonsense with anything but ridicule and ad hominem slurs.

Paul Johnson, noted British historian, puts Ms Thatcher’s accomplishments into historical perspective in an important piece in the Wall Street Journal. His evaluation:

Margaret Thatcher had more impact on the world than any woman ruler since Catherine the Great of Russia. Not only did she turn around—decisively—the British economy in the 1980s, she also saw her methods copied in more than 50 countries. “Thatcherism” was the most popular and successful way of running a country in the last quarter of the 20th century and into the 21st.

Mr. Johnson notes the influence of Frederich Hayek on Ms. Thatcher and outlines her core values as follows:

This was a blend of Adam Smith and the Ten Commandments, the three most important elements being hard work, telling the truth, and paying bills on time.

When Ms. Thatcher took over, Britain was a basket case. The highest marginal tax rate was 98%. It had been transformed from a world superpower into little more than a third-world country with past glories. Britain was a Socialist dystopia and thought to be unsalvageable. Recognizing the problems, Thatcher denationalized industries and freed markets. She did just the opposite of what the intelligentsia of the world thought proper. Did it work? The results, according to Mr. Johnson, were pretty dramatic:

As a result Britain was soon absorbing more than 50% of all inward investment in Europe, the British economy rose from the sixth to the fourth largest in the world, and its production per capita, having been half that of Germany’s in the 1970s, became, by the early years of the 21st century, one-third higher.

Ms. Thatcher returned Britain to relevance and prosperity.

The United States is going through the same ruinous policies that pre-dated Ms. Thatcher. If continued long enough, we will become a third-world nation. We will become the faded Hollywood star, living only on past glories.

We have a poseur for a leader whose ideology has destroyed every country where it has been applied. We need our own aberration in political events. We need our own Lady Thatcher, assuming it is not too late to repair the damage.

Unfortunately, even Ms. Thatcher could not ensure that her successors would carry on her policies. That is the reason why I despise politicians. As Hayek wrote, the worst rise to the top.

“Monty Pelerin” is a pseudonym derived from The Mont Pelerin Society. The writer has no connection with the Society (other than coincidence of philosophy). Nothing said by me should be considered to be representative of the views of the Mont Pelerin Society or any of its members. “Monty Pelerin” blogs at Monty Pelerin’s World