Do you agree with the view that Conservative economic policy was a success in the years 1979-1983?
The Conservative government saw its high and lows from the year 1979 to 1983 however overall it was a success, however this success was only due to the fact that the Conservatives brought about some extreme changes in relation to their economic policy. One of these extreme changes was Thatcher’s adoption of the monetarism. Sources 7 and 9 take into consideration the view that the Conservatives economic policy was a success in the years 1979 to 1983. Source 7 does so by complimenting the success of Thatcherism in the “expanding towns of southern England and East Anglia”. Source 9, comments on the Conservative’s success in decreasing inflation after coming into office. Source 8 directly conflicts with sources 7 and 9 as it shows figures which suggest that unemployment rates and manufacturing output have seen a rapid decrease from the year 1979 and 1984 which the years in which Margaret Thatcher served her first term as Conservative party leader. “Thatcher’s fundamental philosophy of anti-socialist economics prescribed a number of broad objectives” Her basic ideas were that the government basically had to do less in order for it to gain economic success.
The construction industry or “smaller industries” which were thought to be self-sufficient were growing quickly particularly in the south and failed to prosper in the north of England. The reason for this is mainly due to Conservatives economic policy. Although source 7 shows a clear agreement that industries in the south were in fact booming it however fails to recognise the failings in the north of England hence making the source rather subjective. Source 9, states that the “construction industry” and “manufacturing industry” saw greater “prospects” leaving source 9 subjective. Again it fails to state that these industries only existed in the south. The conservative’s economic policies resulted in the loss of much of Britain's heavy industry which was mainly located in the North of England and parts of Scotland. Coal pits, steel plants, machine-tools and shipyards were particularly hard hit. Source 8 would disagree with the statement that Britain’s manufacturing output was growing as its figures for manufacturing output show an overall decrease from the year 1979 to 1983. In 1979 Britain’s manufacturing output was at its highest at 100 however by 1983 it had decreased to 89. However, these statistics majorly reflect on the loss of Britain’s heavy industry in the north and not the south. Although there was growth it only “smaller” industries were affected, much of the bigger industries were located in the North had suffered a big loss as Thatcher had deemed the industries in the North to be very inefficient therefore much focus was put into improving the more self-sufficient industries in the South.
Britain saw Inflation decreased from the year 1979 from 1983 due to the Conservative’s economic policies. Margaret Thatcher’s adoption of Monetarism played a huge role in causing inflation to decrease. Source 9 shows a clear agreement for this statement as it states that after the Conservatives came into office Britain has seen a major decrease in inflation. It first stood at 22% in 1980 (a year after the Conservatives took over from Labour) but by the end of Thatcher’s first term in 1983 it had seen inflation drop to only 5%. Also they saw a surplus of “£4 billion” further indicating that the Conservatives had seen a huge success in their economic policy. However, source 7 states that “prosperity was simply the product of lengthy consumer boom financed by credit” suggesting that Britain’s decrease in inflation will only be short lived and Britain will soon suffer a huge increase in Inflation. This statement however is wrong, Thatcher had adopted monetarism which allowed for a stricter control of money supply. In 1979, the conservatives had the minimum lending rate raised to 14% to control money supply. This made it difficult for business and people to “finance their consumer boom with credit” as higher interest rates would only deter borrowing.
However the Conservative’s economic policy saw her government popularity decrease and as a result a series of riots and strikes had shadowed over Britain. Source 8, would support this argument as it shows that Unemployment had risen between the years 1979 to 1983 which could mean that many had hated her for this reason. However source 8 also shows figures that suggest that the number of days lost to strikes had decreased from the year 1979 to 1983 in doing contradicting itself. However many were still unhappy with the Conservative’s economic policy. The Conservatives abolition of the exchange controls meant that exports would be harmed and unemployment would again increase. Many had denounced Thatcher’s adoption of monetarism as dogmatic stupidity. Julian Critchley, a tory back-bencher had even denounced Thatcher in a letter to the Observer showing a clear lack of consensus within the party. In 1980, Steel strikes began showing a clear disagreement with the Conservatives economic policy.
In conclusion, although the conservatives were heavily criticised for their extreme economic policies, their policies resulted a huge economic gain for Britain. Also although many faced unemployment more had had prospered from conservatives economic success, particularly in the south. By the end of it in 183 inflation had was decrease to a mere 5% compared to the 22% inflation in 1980. The number of working days lost to strikes were further decreased by a huge scale by 1983 meaning that people had gradually grown fond and eventually agreed with the Conservatives Economic Policy.