Books: Margaret Thatcher - Downing Street Years

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Europe is changing. The trouble with Greece and the deluge of immigrants create enormous challenges. The old continent could need a strong, smart and clearly thinking politician - a person like Margaret Thatcher. I reckon that she was the most important political leader since WWII besides Ronald Regan - and we miss her much.

I enjoyed her autobiography "Margaret Thatcher: Downing Street Years" even though the 832 pages were written in a very prosaic style (amazon). The book contains almost no personal information (except some mentions about teeth pain) instead she presents her insights about the political & economical developments during her a decade long reign. 

We can still learn a lot from her analyses.  Europe´s many crises - and the  exit of UK (Brexit) -  show that she was right in many points. The Thatcherite revolution,  the overhaul of the U.K. economy, is still a role model.

I enjoyed her precise, clear and economical style. The former UK prime minister possessed a strong analytical mind and an impressive understanding about economics. Many of her thoughts are still important. And she showed a strong will to fight for he believes which gave her the nickname  "Iron Lady", that she quoted sometimes in her biography.

The autobiography starts in the year 1979 when she took office. She defines her basic principles: "Orthodox finance, low levels of regulation and taxation, a minimal bureaucracy, strong defense & a willingness to stand up for British interests wherever and whenever threatened".

Her remarks focus on two main topics: The British economy & the  European Community. When she took Britain`s steering wheel she was confronted with a lot of economic challenges. UK`s economy was in a mess: Inflation was speeding up, unemployment was climbing, public sector pay was "out of control", public spending was rising as revenues fell, and the domestic problems were aggravated by rising oil prices which drove the world into a recession. 

Thatcher implemented a series of reforms to brake the vicious spiral and implemented tax cuts & deregulation. But she also had to curb the power of the trade unions which had a tradition to coerce economy & politics by many strikes.

A large part of the books describes her struggle against the European centralism. Over her whole regency she fought against a "standardized Europe"and insisted "that the institutions of the European Community are managed so that they increase the liberty of the individuals throughout the continent". She criticized the tendency in the community to be  "interventionist, protectionist, and ultimately federalist" and she condemned the protectionist policy to impede imports with high taxes and regulations. She criticized Jacques Delors, a French bureaucrat who was President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995, and opposed his two "great dreams" for Europe  - an area without frontiers and monetary union. 

Instead she emphasize her credo that "competition between tax regimes is so far more healthy than the imposition of a single system. It forces governments to hold down government spending and taxation, and to limit the burden of regulations, and when they fail to do these things, it allows companies and taxpayers to move elsewhere".



                                                        Politics As An Elite Sport?

UK didn`t have an important role in the East-West relations but Thatcher was an analytical observer. She reminded that Ronald Reagan announced in 1983 his plan to mount a near-total defense against a massive sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missile attack, called "Star Wars". She seemed to admire him and to agree to most of his policy, but she also complained that the US President didn`t support her when Argentina invaded & occupied the British territory Falkland Islands which lead to the quick Falkland War. According to her Reagan ways too much influenced by his ignorant staff. 

I enjoyed her comments about other political leaders and her meetings with French president François Mitterrand, German chancellor Helmut Kohl and others. She wrote that French President Giscard d` Estaing had a mind-set of a technocrat and "saw politics as an élite sport to be carried on for the benefit of the people but not really with their participation".

The autobiography is another proof that Margaret Thatcher was no just a politician. The also was a brilliant analyst who understand economics. I enjoyed clear brisk style and learned a lot about history. UK still benefits from the Thatcherite revolution and we still can learn from her about the role of government, budget, monetary policy.